A to Z
by Mike Turner 1
Summary: After all those years of sailing the seas, Luffy and Nami have finally settled down and now have a family. Join me on a light hearted trip as we discover the ups and downs of life in the new Monkey D. Household. Future fic. Pure fluff all the way!
1. A

_**College sucks! It's not like it's horrible or anything like that and I do want to still go there, but this year, I've been hit with so much work that my updates have been slowed down to a crawl, which is unfortunate because I love writing stories that you can all enjoy (hopefully).**_

_**Seeing as how my updates have become quite slow, however, I've thought up a devious plan. I've had this story idea in my head for a while now, about a series of one-shots based around Luffy and Nami being parents and raising their kids (mostly just for pointless fluffy moments) and now that my other stories are taking so long to update, I've decided to create this series of one-shots that I can update more regularly to keep you entertained.**_

_**So, without further ado, I hope you enjoy the cuteness that is about to ensue.**_

* * *

><p><em><strong>A is for Always<strong>_

It was a Saturday. It was a mostly average weekend in the Monkey household…which obviously meant there was lots of loud shouting in the air. The sun was currently low on the horizon, setting into a crimson sky. The fading light barely managed to illuminate the large field behind the large blue two floor house which the family called 'Home'. Despite the dying day, however, the backyard of the house was alive with movement and noise.

"TAG! YOU'RE IT!" a high pitched voice cried, accompanied by various loud giggles.

"Hey, that's not fair!" another, slightly deeper, voice cried in reply.

"Can't catch me daddy!"

"Oh can't I?" the deeper voice yelled as a long arm stretched out across the yard, grabbing hold of the short black haired young girl who had been running away by the back of her bright red dress. As the arm retracted, the girl struggled against the grip of her father.

"DADDY! YOU'RE CHEATING! NO DEVIL FRUIT POWERS!" Monkey D. Chika announced, pouting sadly as she was dragged back towards him. Luffy hadn't changed that much from how he used to look. His raven hair was still as messy as usual and his smile was still so wide it looked like it was too big for his face. He did seem older now, however, than his prime days. His face was no longer as smooth as it used to be and now Luffy had an unshaven look about him. His trusty straw-hat was still resting peacefully on his head. He was wearing his usual uniform of a red shirt and blue shorts, though this time the shirt was buttoned up completely. It was a good thing too as the instant Chika was back in his arms again; the little girl was struggling against him, wanting to escape from the horror of being named 'it' once more. Luffy gently tapped the little girl's nose with a wide grin.

"Tag!" he whispered into her ear.

"No!" the little girl giggled as Luffy lifted her up in his arms, spinning her around happily "Daddy, put me down! I don't want to be a birdie!"

"You're not a birdie though" Luffy argued with a smile, lowering his daughter to the floor, before commencing to tickle her "you're a little monkey!"

"No I'm not Daddy!" Chika laughed, struggling as Luffy continued to tickle her. After a while, Luffy finally let go of Chika and stood up, glancing around with a curious grin on his face.

"Hey, where are those other two?" he asked with a grin. The answer to this question was quickly answered as two loud voices shouted from behind him.

"QUICK! GET HIM!" the hidden duo yelled in chorus as, miraculously, they managed to leap onto Luffy's back and the pirate king, stunned by the sudden weight on his back, tumbled forwards onto the floor.

"PILE ON!" a voice shouted as a young orange haired boy jumped forwards, landing straight onto Luffy's back. Luffy didn't even flinch as they did so, no doubt using his armaments haki to shield himself from the blow. The second boy smiled and quickly grabbed hold of Luffy's leg with his own, locking them in a hold.

"THE PIRATE KING IS DOWN FOR THE COUNT!" the blonde haired boy announced with a grin. Chika smiled as well, noticing the situation and then quickly ran over to her brother, sitting next to him with a smile.

"YAY! WE BEAT DADDY! MUMMY! MUMMY, COME LOOK!" Chika cried happily with their accomplishment. Luffy looked to his right and, along the grassy field, he could make out Robin, Kaya and Nami talking to one another. At the yell, Nami turned around and spotted Luffy on the floor, with Chika, Haru and Kenichi pinning him to the floor.

"Nami…a little help please?" Luffy asked with a pout, puffing his cheeks. Nami chuckled to herself at the sight and smiled at the brother and sister who were sitting side by side.

"That's a very nice chair you have there sweetie" Nami told Chika a smile "mind if I have a sit down later after mummy's done talking to Auntie Robin?"

"Sure" Chika replied with a giggle.

"BUT HONEY!" Luffy pleaded from his spot underneath his two children.

"~That'll be 15 million beri darling if you want me to help~" Nami taunted with a smile.

"But Nami…" Luffy mumbled, giving Nami a pleading look. Nami, however, turned away from him with a wink "meanie…" Luffy muttered one last time, before turning to the two people quarrelling by the barbeque.

"ZORO! SANJI! HELP ME!" Luffy bellowed, struggling against the three children holding him down. Sanji and Zoro looked over towards their captain from their sparring match and the blonde chef smirked.

"Nice leg-lock Kenichi!" Sanji complimented with a grin.

"Thanks dad!" the blonde haired boy yelled back, tightening his grip at his father's encouragement.

"BUT SANJI!" Luffy protested.

"You can't feel pain shitty rubber man" Sanji called "besides, Kenichi needs to test his moves on somebody…"  
>"ZORO!" Luffy continued to shout "PLEASE COME ON! HELP ME!" Despite Luffy's pleas, Zoro turned away from his captain, pretending he hadn't heard what his captain was saying. Luffy whined loudly at his first mate's ignorance "COME ON ZORO! PLEASE!" Zoro sighed loudly at this and reluctantly walked over towards the three children and their seat. Noticing his approach, the orange haired boy leaned over to his sister and whispered into her ear. For a while, Chika listened to Haru and then, she suddenly smiled widely.<p>

"Haru, that's a great idea!" Chika shouted happily.

"I know" Haru replied, scratching his nose with a smile. With that, Chika quickly sprung to her feet and ran over towards Zoro. As Chika stopped in front of him, Zoro crouched down to look the little girl in the eye.

"Chika…I need to help your dad, so get out of my way!" Zoro muttered to the young girl. Chika, however, was not afraid of the green haired man's threats and instead, she poked his forehead.

"TAG! YOU'RE IT!" Chika announced with a cheeky grin. Zoro's eyes widened as the little girl started to run away from him.

"Come on Uncle Zoro! Come play!" Haru shouted with a grin.

"Or are you scared Uncle Moss-head?" Kenichi taunted, following in his father's footsteps. At the insult, Zoro suddenly scowled and then quickly ran forwards towards his captain. Chika sped up immediately, whilst Kenichi and Haru jumped up from Luffy and started running away with Chika. Noticing they were fleeing, Luffy quickly sprung up to his feet and starting running alongside Zoro with a smile.

"Hey Zoro, bet I can catch them before you do!" Luffy declared with a grin.

"You're on!" Zoro replied as the two men quickly picked up speed.

Hearing the shouting from their partners, Robin and Nami both looked round. Nami sighed loudly when she caught sight of Luffy and Haru engaged in a glaring contest, whilst Zoro was trying to catch Kenichi, whilst Chika held tightly to his leg to try to stop him from walking forwards.

"Robin, when did our husbands get more immature than the five year olds?" the orange haired mother asked. Robin chuckled at the question and smiled at the scene before her.

"At least they're having fun" Robin reminded her friend, despite Nami's sighs.

"I agree with Robin" Kaya spoke up with a smile "Luffy's like a child at heart but that's a good thing though, right?" Nami gave a nod in reply, smiling as Luffy turned to her with a wink.

"I guess…but you're just saying that though because you know Usopp is actually somewhat capable of not acting like a grown up kid when he needs to focus…" Nami argued, failing to hide the warm smile on her face.

"WHY ARE YOU GUYS PLAYING WITHOUT ME?" a voice suddenly shouted across the yard and Kaya pointed the long nosed black haired man, who had just joined the chase.

"You were saying…" she commented with a chuckle. Nami laughed as well, conceding defeat.

"YEAH! I WANNA PLAY TOO!" Chopper shouted, suddenly leaping out of a bush and charging straight at Kenichi. The blonde haired boy vaulted over Chopper's horns and laughed as the reindeer turned around to chase after him.

"SUPA INTERUPTION!" Franky suddenly cried, leaping out from seemingly no-where before dashing towards Haru. Haru, however, was smarter than he looked and quickly sidestepped Franky, sticking his leg out in order to trip the large cyborg over. Franky gave a loud yelp as he stumbled forwards, falling straight onto to Luffy and accidentally pinning him to the ground. Haru gave a boisterous laugh as Luffy pushed Franky off of him.

"I AM UNCATCHABLE!" Haru declared, sticking his tongue out with a grin.

"Indeed you are quite the sight to behold…" a voice whispered from behind Haru, before he found himself being picked up by a pair of skeletal hands "…but then again, I don't have eyes to see with, do I? ~SKULL JOKE~!" Haru started laughing once more as Brook's bony fingers began to tickle him.

"Stop it Uncle Brook!" Haru laughed, struggling against the musician's grip.

* * *

><p>Whilst the gathering straw-hat's continued to run around and play, a pair of uninterested sapphire blue eyes watched them from over her book. These eyes belonged to Roronoa Olvia, who was currently sitting under a nearby tree. Her smooth and short dark green hair rested against the solemn elm tree in the corner of the field. She rolled her eyes at the cheers of joy coming from the light-hearted adults and continued to delve into her book. As usual, her eyes scanned the pages with interest, focusing on each of the words with interest and reading each like it was a finely crafted piece of weaponry used to pierce the heart of the reader…<p>

Olvia sighed. Those were the crazy thoughts created from the daughter of both the world's greatest swordsman and the most famous archaeologist who ever lived…no wonder she fit in so well with this large and strange family.

Speaking of strange family members, one of her extended family members was currently sitting next to her, tapping the side of the tree as he watched the game of cat and mouse with interest. His hair was a light blonde and wavy like his mother's, whilst his nose was long and somewhat pointy like his father's. She smiled noticing the boy squirming, fingers tapping the tree as if he was trying to restrain himself. It was obvious what he wanted to do.

"You know, you could go and play with them if you want to Aesop" Olvia reminded him with a smile. Aesop jolted up at Olvia's words and laughed loudly, as if the idea had never come to his mind.

"Please! As if I, the great Aesop, would ever consider going over there and running around like that. It's so immature! After all, I have a sophisticated mind! A true man of science, philosophy and…"  
>"Aesop…" Olvia murmured sternly. Unlike his father (or possibly like him) Aesop was always such a terrible liar. She could read him like a book. Aesop quickly glanced at her and then looked away, fiddling with his fingers.<p>

"But…then…I-I-I I'd be leaving you all alone, wouldn't I? Abandoning you would just be rude, totally ungentlemenly…unlike me…"

"I think I can survive without you holding my hand for half an hour" Olvia replied calmly. Aesop quickly became flustered, turning as red as a tomato as he shook his head in denial.

"I-I-I didn't mean it like that!" the long nosed teen insisted "I know you're not like that! I mean you're smart, you're capable, you're beau…" Aesop quickly stopped talking and looked over at Olvia, who was now giving him a knowing smile "…and I'm waffling again, aren't I?"

"Oh don't let me stop you" Olvia replied with her usual sweet grin "keep going if you want…" Aesop didn't really know to respond and once more, his stutter returned.

"…W-w-well…"  
>"Yes?" Olvia egged him on, shuffling closer.<br>"You're…" Aesop began  
>"Hm?" Olvia purred, her mouth right next to Aesop's ear, causing the timid teen to shiver.<br>"Y-y-you're…you're right!" Aesop yelled, standing up with a determined grin on his bright red face "I should go over there and play! After all, I need to show those idiots how it's done!" Olvia's hopeful smirk suddenly turned into a calm and melancholy expression as she returned back to her normal place and picked up her old book.

"Well then, you best go show them what you're made of" she murmured. Aesop was about to go, when he stopped and turned around with a sad frown.  
>"Are you okay?" he asked, noticing Olvia's disappointed expression.<p>

"Of course…" Olvia lied, putting her nose back in her book "but you go have fun, okay?" Unfortunately for Olvia, Aesop was persistent.

"You want to play too? I'm sure Luffy wouldn't mind"  
>"I…" Olvia began, ready to shoot down Aesop's idea for being absurd, when suddenly; she noticed the intensity in the long nosed boy's eyes. If she was someone who could read his, then he was definitely someone who could change hers…<p>

"…Okay then, in a bit, just let me finish this chapter" she replied with a soft smile. Aesop smiled back at her.

"Cool. Make sure you stay close to me though when we're playing. After all, I'm the master of Tag!" Aesop announced with a laugh. Unfortunately for him, it was at this moment when Luffy raced up behind Aesop and gave him a hard pat on the back, sending him straight to the floor.

"TAG! YOU'RE IT!" Luffy announced boldly, before racing off with the others. Aesop stumbled to his feet, blushing as Olvia laughed at him.

"Ah yes, the master in action…" she said with a chuckle.

* * *

><p>High above the action at the bottom of the tree, a boy with long shoulder length dark hair sighed. He scratched the freckles on his cheek as he watched the chaos unfold, taking a strange interest in the unrest. In a way, he was almost a little perturbed by this.<p>

After all, things were always like this whenever the crew got together for a visit. He couldn't remember the last time he had seen Uncle Franky and Uncle Brook together. Even seeing Uncle Sanji and Uncle Zoro fight was a real rarity. In a way, it made his fears disappear to see that despite how much each of the crew had changed and how they had all grown up, they were still always family and they would always remain a family no matter what.

"Wow, your dad's kinda strong" at the comment, the dark haired thirteen year-old turned to look at his companion, who he had almost forgotten was there. Her green hair was much lighter but also much longer that her sister's and instead of having light blue eyes, her eyes were a dark brown in colour. Her hair was tied back in a long flowing pony tail and at her side, still its sheath, was a sword with a dark black hilt.

Kuina wasn't the kind of person to leave her sword any less that ten centimetres away from her person at all times and the fact it was now hanging quite securely from a belt attached to her jeans was no surprise to Daichi.

After all, he had been her friend long enough to know that Kuina didn't take chances and if she did, she made sure that the odds were as closely in her favour as possible. Even now, sitting this high above the floor in the tree, which was a great risk in itself, she was making sure to sit as closely to him as possible, so that if any of them stumbled, the other would be there to catch them. Of course, Daichi was not complaining about this in the slightest.

"Yeah…he is…" Daichi finally replied, watching as Chika, with Chopper giving her a boost, grabbed hold of Luffy's nose it and pulled it hard, causing Luffy's face to stretch "but I'm stronger…"

"I bet" Kuina muttered with a smile. Daichi smirked at the green haired girl's statement, watching how the wind gently seemed to blow her ponytail in the breeze.

She was always so confident about everything and was always willing to stand by him. He really liked that about her. Suddenly, Kuina turned to look at him and her dark brown eyes linked with his black ones. To be honest, Daichi could have stared into those eyes all day if he had the chance…unfortunately though…

"~Daichi and Kuina sitting in a tree~"  
>"~K-I-S-S-I-N-G~" the mocking song quickly caught Daichi's attention and he looked down to see Chika, Haru and his dad smiling up at him. Worst of all though, was Kuina's father, who was glaring up at him and looked like he wanted to slash him up with those fine swords at his side…<p>

"WE WEREN'T KISSING!" Daichi complained with slightly red cheeks "WE WERE JUST TALKING!"

"~Daichi and Kuina sitting in a tree~"  
>"~T-A-L-K-I-N-G~"<p>

"DAD! YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG!" Daichi shouted angrily, only for Luffy to laugh at his son's rage.

"So Dai, wanna come down and play buddy?" Luffy asked with a smile

"No thanks dad, I'm busy…" Daichi replied with a bored sigh.  
>"Making out with your girlfriend?" Luffy taunted.<p>

"SHE ISN'T MY GIRLFRIEND!" Daichi shouted back down, his cheeks still a rosy pink in colour.  
>"You tell 'em honey!" Kuina chuckled from beside him. Daichi turned to her in disbelief.<p>

"Stop encouraging them!" he whispered to her through barred teeth.

"They're just having fun" Kuina responded, giving him a gentle nudge "you should stop being so serious all the time. Try lightening up a little"

"I can't 'lighten up a little'" Daichi growled, mocking Kuina's voice with a high-pitched voice as he spoke her words "SOMEONE in this family has to be mature…usually; you'd assume it'd be the adult but in this case, it's me!" Daichi then looked down at his father, who was once again busy picking his nose.

"It is surprising" Kuina agreed with a sly smile "who'd have thought that the son of the pirate king would be such a stick in the mud"  
>"I AM NOT A STICK IN THE MUD!" Daichi argued, giving Kuina his hardest glare, though this only proved to make Kuina laugh.<p>

"Prove it then" she replied, sticking out her tongue in defiance of Daichi's attitude.

"~Daichi's a stick in the mud! Daichi's a stick in the mud!~" Chika and Haru sang below with a laugh. Finally, Daichi growled and pushed himself of his perch, swinging down skilfully off the branches towards the two children. Haru and Chika spotted him and quickly took off, before Daichi landed and followed them in pursuit.

"Get back here you brats!" he yelled as he raced after them. Haru and Chika, however, ignored their brother and quickly took off running towards their mother, who they hoped would offer them protection against their smelly older brother.

Nami was quite confused indeed when Chika and Haru ran straight at her and then proceeded to hide behind her jeans.

"What are you two doing?" she asked, trying to turn around to look at the two of them, but Haru and Chika kept shuffling around as she did so. Of course, the two of them were promptly followed by Daichi and the moment he appeared, Nami realised what she had just been pulled into. As Daichi ran round her to the left, Chika and Haru ran to the left as well and when Daichi ran right, they followed, always keeping Nami between them and Daichi.

"You three stop it right now!" Nami yelled, but her cry fell on death ears as Daichi continued to run after his prey and they continued to flee. Quickly, Nami found herself quite dizzy with her children running around her and the first second, Haru and Chika took off in another direction, she stumbled a little backwards…only for someone to steady her by grabbing hold of her waist. She could tell by touch alone who it was. There was only one person in the world that would hold her like this.

"Luffy…" she muttered, her hand grabbing her forehead in a futile attempt to stop her being dizzy "we are NOT having any more kids…"  
>"I make no promises…" Luffy murmured with a chuckle. Nami gave a sigh and then, grudgingly, she smiled.<p>

"They grow up so fast don't they?" she asked sadly. Luffy's eyebrow rose at the question and then, he realised that Nami was sniffling, almost ready to cry "Do you remember when Daichi was that small and you were the one chasing him around?" Luffy nodded, squeezing Nami tightly in an attempt to reassure her.

"What's got you like this all of a sudden?" he asked, seeing tears silently falling from her face.

"I…I don't know, I'm just being silly I suppose…" Nami replied, reaching to dry her tears "nostalgia always gets to me…" Luffy was already on the case, however, gently wiping her cheek with his finger.

"Come on, don't think like that Nami" the dark haired man whispered soothingly "just because they're all growing up that doesn't mean we should be sad. We should be happy for them. Think about all the adventures and all the fun that's out there in the world for them to have." Despite Luffy's words, Nami still remained a little upset, watching sadly as Daichi continued running after Chika and Haru "…just because they've grown up, it doesn't mean we won't be a family anymore either" Luffy continued "No matter what, we're always going to be together aren't we?" for some reason, these words struck a cord with Nami and she turned around to look Luffy in the eye. He was almost on the verge of tears too.

"Always?" she asked him with a hopeful smile. Luffy laughed at the question and gently pressed his lips to her forehead, before pressing his forehead to her own.

"Always…"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Luffy and Nami's children:<strong>_

Monkey D. Daichi- 13 years old

Monkey D. Chika- 5 years old

Monkey D. Haru- 5 years old

_**Zoro and Robin's children:**_

Roronoa Olvia-14 years old

Roronoa Kuina- 13 years old

_**Usopp and Kaya's children:**_

Aesop (come on, like I'd call Usopp's son anything else)- 13 years old

_**Sanji and ?'s children:**_

Kenichi- 6 years old

_**On the subject of Sanji's kid, who do you think the mother should be? (I haven't really decided who to pair Sanji with so I'm just throwing it out there for you to vote on)**_

_**Until then, I'm Shadowonthewall6 and I hope you enjoyed the start of this one-shot series.**_

_**Please review. Positive criticism is welcome.**_


	2. B

_**So, I've counted the votes from the last entry and the decision on who the mother of Sanji's child is has been chosen…**_

_**Unfortunately for you, I think I'm going to keep it a surprise who won, so you're going to have to read to find out who won...**_

* * *

><p><em><strong>B is for Behaviour problems<strong>_

"THEY DID WHAT?" Robin and Nami snapped at the same time. The mayor, a plump fellow with a white beard and moustache, covered his ears at the mother's yell. Once the two had stopped, the mayor coughed before continuing.

"Well, you see, Mr. Genzo was having a walk around town before…and he saw that your children were, for lack of a better word, pummelling these poor boys into the ground for no reason at all!" the mayor explained, gesturing to the five teens sitting next to him, all of whom had scrapes, cuts and bruises over their body. There was even one of the boy's who had a black eye. To say that the two sets of parents were shocked was an understatement. They were so surprised that even Luffy, the master of unpredictability, was silent as he took in the information. Nami was furious at this development and she gritted her teeth in anger. Even the usually calm Robin was seething with rage.

"Trust us Mr. Fudo, we'll have a word with them" Nami reassured the mayor. Mr. Fudo nodded in understanding and then nodded towards the door. The man near the door, who was dressed in a formal suit, obeyed the mayor and knocked on the door before opening it. Behind the door was a man in a brown uniform with stitches over his face. A brand new pinwheel was attached to his cap. Genzo's hair was now a faded gray. He may not have been a spring chicken anymore, but he was still strong enough to take down two teenage troublemakers. The man was currently holding two teenagers by the shoulders. Both of which didn't really seem all that interested in what was going on. Kuina was twiddling with her hair, whilst Daichi was calmly picking his ear in boredom. Neither of them seemed to understand the severity of their actions.

"MONKEY D. DAICHI!" Nami announced as the boy walked in "WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF?"

"Hello…" Daichi replied, examining the finger that he had been using to pick his ear.

THWACK!

Daichi gripped his head as Nami's fist came down hard on his skull.

"And what about you young lady?" Robin asked, standing beside Nami and looking down with disappointment at her daughter "do you think this is acceptable? I thought I taught you better than this!"

"I would have used proper three sword style if I could mother, but the best I had on hand were a couple of sticks…" Kuina replied calmly.  
>"YOU USED THREE SWORD STYLE ON THESE GUYS?" Zoro suddenly barked, looking Kuina in the eye. The green haired teen nodded. Zoro's sudden shift in mood made Robin smile as he too stood up to glare at his daughter.<p>

For once, Zoro was actually going to be dishing out the punishment and giving out the lecture.

She was so happy…

"...KUINA THAT'S AMAZING! I'M SO PROUD OF YOU!"

"ZORO, WE'RE SUPPOSED TO BE VERY DISPLEASED WITH THIS!" Robin snapped, giving her husband a stern look.

"Of course…" Zoro responded, before leaning over towards Kuina with an excited smile on his face "so…how many of them did you take down? Did you try doing Oni Giri like I taught you?"

THWACK!

"Thank you Nami…" Robin muttered as the orange haired woman whacked Zoro over the back of his head

"The apple doesn't fall far from the tree I notice…" Genzo muttered under his breath. Luffy looked around at this claim, his finger in his ear. Quickly realising both Genzo, Daichi and Nami were looking at him, Luffy quickly removed his finger and stood up walking over towards the situation.

"Now, we should be thinking about a punishment!…that's right, isn't it Nami?" Luffy asked cautiously.

"Yes Luffy" Nami replied with a small smile, patting her husband reassuringly on the back "What do you think Robin?"  
>"Well, a grounding is definitely in order" Robin mused, stroking her chin in thought.<br>"One month?" Nami suggested.

"I was considering two" Robin replied with a nod.  
>"Let's even it out then to three" Nami proposed and Robin nodded in agreement "For three months, you two will be forbidden from leaving your rooms"<br>"Kuina, there'll be no sword practicing for you!" Robin stated firmly.

"Daichi, think again if you think that you're still going to have Waver riding lessons young man!" Nami shouted.

"And for those three months, you two will NOT be allowed to see each other!" Nami and Robin said in unison.

"WHAT?" Daichi and Kuina screamed at the same time "YOU CAN'T DO THAT!"

"We're your parents" Nami reminded the two "we make the rules and if you break our rules, then you have to face the punishment!"

"WAIT WHAT?" Zoro and Luffy cried, quickly jumping in between their wives and their children.

"Nami! You can't take away his waver riding lessons!" Luffy argued "he's teaching me to do it!"

"And my blade will go rusty if I don't have a sparring partner!" Zoro

"Tough!" was Nami's reply to Luffy's statement, whilst Robin's was far more diplomatic.

"What about Sanji?" Robin asked.  
>"Vivi never lets him come out to play" Zoro replied, folding his arms with a growl.<p>

"Well then you'll just have to find someone else to spar with" Robin said, gently patting Zoro on the head. The swordsman growled in reply and sat down sulking on a nearby chair.

"However, before any of that, you two are going to have to apologize to these kids!" Nami demanded, gesturing to the five teenagers standing beside the mayor, who were now smirking with confident glee. They had won this round…

"No…" Nami snapped round at Daichi's mutter and glared at him.

"Excuse me…"  
>"I said no" Daichi repeated, matching Nami's glare with his own "I'm not apologising to them!"<br>"Same here" Kuina agreed. Surprisingly, before Nami could speak, it was Luffy who stepped forwards towards his son. Luffy gently grabbed hold of his son's shoulders and then, looked him right in the eye.

"Listen, Daichi" he began "cowards run away from their responsibilities…but real men stand up and accept when they've done wrong. What you did was wrong Dai. These people you hurt haven't done anything to you and you need to take responsibility for your actions…"  
>"They didn't do anything?" Daichi asked in confusion "is that what these bastards told you?"<br>"WATCH THE MOUTH YOU BRAT!" Genzo shouted, banging Daichi on the head for his coarse language. Luffy, however, had latched on to what Daichi was saying and tilted his head in confusion.

"That's what they told us? You mean they did do something to you?" Luffy asked.

"Not to me…" Daichi conceded with a calm sigh before he turned to the five teenagers on the other side of the room "look, I'll apologise to them…but the next time I see any of them picking on Haru or Chika their ass is going down…"

There was a sudden silence in the room. It was as if a thunder clap had sounded outside, scaring all of the other sounds away.

"**What did you just say?…**" Nami asked Daichi, pure rage seeping from her voice.

"Chika and Haru told me that every week or so, these thugs would come up to them and would steal their pocket money. Aesop tried helping them one time but he got kinda beat up too…so I and Kuina decided that we'd have a word with them…" Daichi explained, noticing how the five bullies, who had before been silent with confidence, were now shaking and shuddering with fear. To be fair, they had good reason to as well. These four parents, who had before looked like average people, had in the blink of an eye, transformed into demons. Even the pinwheel man had suddenly turned solemn with rage. At this point, the mayor, quite wisely, decided that it was best that he should sneak away and so, he quickly left the room.

After all, he was dealing with two of the strongest people in the world here and he knew that once they had made a decision, he couldn't change it…

As he left, Genzo shut the door after him, letting go of Kuina and Daichi's shoulders.

"**Now then…**" Nami muttered, walking over to the bullies and crouching down to look at them "**what did you do to my babies?...**" Luffy, Robin and Zoro loomed over her like dark shadows, all of them glaring down at the bullies like they were the scum of the earth…

* * *

><p><em><strong>And B is for Brother…<strong>_

"HARU! HARU! LOOK! DAICHI'S BACK!" Chika called as her older brother stepped through the door. Daichi smiled as the little girl ran up to him and scooped her up into a big hug when she got close.

"And how are you doing princess?" he asked as he spun her around in the air.

"I'm good! Auntie Vivi let me try some of Uncle Sanji's special chocolate cake!" Chika announced proudly, as if she had been just had a great honour bestowed upon her. Daichi laughed and looked over to Vivi, who had just come out of the kitchen.

"Thanks for looking after these two whilst I was busy Auntie Vivi" Daichi said, ruffling Chika's hair with an affectionate hand.

"No problem. They were like little angels" Vivi said with a smile, before she turned around to shout into the kitchen "Kenichi! Say goodbye to Haru! Daichi's come to pick him up" a loud 'aw' of sadness was heard from the other room as she called this and, a minute later, Haru and Kenichi ran around the corner. Kenichi stopped by his mother, whilst Haru continued to walk forwards towards Daichi. As he approached, Daichi put Chika down on the floor and smiled at him.

"Are you two ready to go?" Daichi asked. Of course, the two children shook their head "I wasn't asking you whether you didn't want to go, I was asking if you were ready to. Have you got all your things?" Haru and Chika gave a reluctant nod and Daichi laughed as he grabbed both of their hands "well, we best be on our way then. See you later Auntie Vivi and thanks again!"  
>"Goodbye Auntie Vivi! Goodbye Kenichi!" Chika and Haru called as they walked through the door. Vivi and Kenichi waved goodbye as the three siblings stepped outside, shutting the door behind them.<p>

As usual, the walk home was filled with questions. The first of which, Daichi had already expected.

"…So…what happened?"  
>"Are the mean people gone?"<br>"Don't worry" Daichi said, smiling down at the two of them "they won't be causing any more trouble for anyone"  
>"Did you kick their butts?" Haru asked with a laugh.<p>

"Yeah, single-handedly" Daichi revealed with a smile "…well, okay maybe Kuina helped a bit…" Chika and Haru gave Daichi a disbelieving stare and he sighed "okay, Kuina volunteered but then, when they found out what was happening, Mum and Dad helped too along with Aunt Robin, Uncle Zoro and Genzo"

"Why did they do that?" Chika asked, looking up at Daichi in confusion. The dark haired teen laughed at the question.

"Of all the silliest things to ask…because you're family aren't you?" he said "and rule one is that you look after your family, your nakama. If anyone hurts you two, they're going to get a visit from me. That's a lesson you're going to have to learn in the future. You've got to treasure your bonds with people and you've got to fight to ensure that those bonds never break…"

Chika and Haru stared up in wonder at their older brother, as if they were just seeing him now for the first time. They were hanging on his every word. For a while longer, the three walked along in comfortable silence before Haru spoke once more.

"So…did Kuina fight with you against those guys because she loves you?"  
>"NO!"<br>"Are you going to get married like Mummy and Daddy?" Chika asked next, pulling on his arm.

"NO!" Daichi repeated, however, his words fell on deaf ears as Chika and Haru continued to pester him about the subject.

"It's time like these" Daichi thought to himself "that I wish I was an only child…"

However, despite this comment, Daichi didn't seem to be aware of the small smile that was growing on his face as his two siblings continued to tug on his arm, bombarding him with questions.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Until then I'm Shadowonthewall6 and I hope you enjoyed this one-shot.<strong>_

_**Please review. Positive criticism is welcome.**_


	3. C

_**Hey, remember when I said I would be updating A-Z more regularly?...**_

_**Good, because neither do I...**_

_**Anyway, yeah, I know I've not updated A-Z as regularly as I said I would have but fear not because now, finally, I'm back with more LuNa family fluff to enertain you with (at least I hope it does entertain you)**_

_**So without further long boring explainations about me being incredibly late with this and...well, everything, I present to you then next chapter of A-Z :3**_

* * *

><p><em><strong>C is for Cartography<strong>_

It is said that almost everything about your appearance is due to the genes you inherit from your parents.

Unfortunately for Nami, this trait extended to something that wasn't merely physical, Luffy's poor sense of direction.

* * *

><p>"HOW! JUST HOW DID YOU FIND A WAY TO WALK OFF A CLIFF?" she yelled, looking at her husband and son. Luffy and Daichi, who were covered from head to toe in brambles and scars, replied by shrugging, getting a whack on their head's for their troubles.<p>

"You said we had to go pick Haru and Chika up from school whilst you went to the market to get the shopping…" Luffy began, nursing his head wound.

"But DAD here, didn't know the way" Daichi complained, nudging his father.  
>"You didn't know the way either!"<br>"Yes, but I'm not the adult here idiot!"

"Don't call me an idiot you brat!"  
>"STOP IT BOTH OF YOU!" Nami shouted, silencing the feuding pair "I told you to go straight along the northern road and that would lead you right to the school house. I even gave you a compass! It shouldn't have been that hard to follow it"<p>

"We disagreed with it" Luffy and Daichi agreed, nodding their heads together. Nami didn't hesitate to once more strike a blow to the heads of her husband and son, causing them to crouch on the ground in defeat.

"IT'S A COMPASS! IT CAN'T BE WRONG!" Nami bellowed, stamping her foot in rage "You're lucky I could get a hold of Robin and she agreed to collect the two of them. IF NOT THEY'D BE STILL OUT IN THE COLD, WAITING FOR YOU TO GET THERE!"

"Nami, look, we're both sorry" Luffy said clapping his hands together and bowing "I'm sorry that I can't be as beautiful and as talented as you!"  
>"Flattery isn't going to work this time Luffy" Nami growled, ignoring Luffy's appeal.<p>

"I thought you couldn't lie Dad" Daichi muttered with confusion into his father's ear. Luffy turned around and gaped at his son in response.

"When was I lying?" he asked Daichi, who merely sighed in reply.

"Never mind"

"Look you two" Nami suddenly said, getting the attention of the duo "I've had just about enough of your poor direction. I think it's time I intervened…"  
>"Intervened?" Luffy and Daichi questioned in chorus, shaking with fear.<p>

"Yes, and not just for you" Nami stated firmly "I don't want Chika and Haru ending up as misguided as you seem to be when it comes to directions…"

"What are you going to actually do?" Luffy found the courage to ask.

In reply, Nami gave an evil grin and Daichi was pretty sure, for the first time in his life, he saw his father, the king of his pirates, with fear in his eyes.

* * *

><p>It was fair to say that none of the Monkey family expected to be woken up bright and early on a Saturday morning, forced to get dressed and to be marched downstairs to the garage. To further the surprise, Haru and Chika discovered that the garage had magically been transformed into a large empty room and where the waver once stood; there was now a large wooden desk and a black board on the wall. Four separate tables stood in front of the teacher's desk, each had a chair for someone to sit in.<p>

Before anyone could voice their confusion, however, a mysterious figure whisked them away to the front of the room and in their tired state, the four zombies sat down in their seats. It took for the mysterious figure to ring a small bell at the front of the classroom for the small group to finally realise who had woken them up that morning. There, standing in front of the room in a long white lab coat and a short black skirt was Nami, a pair of glasses perching on her nose and her hair tied back in a long ponytail.

"That's it" Daichi suddenly announced with a groan "I'm moving into Impel Down"

"Welcome everyone to Navigation class" Nami announced with a large grin, ignoring Daichi as she stared down at her four students "I'll be your teacher, Professor Nami…or mummy, whatever you like to call me"

"Since when were you a professor?" Daichi asked with a yawn.

"One more smart remark young man and I'm going to cut your allowance" Nami snapped back, taking a piece of chalk in her hand.  
>"You don't give him an allowance" Luffy reminded her lazily, scratching his skull with his right hand.<br>"…Well then I'm going to start giving him an allowance"  
>"Really?" Daichi quickly roused from his sleepy state and smiled.<p>

"And then I'll cut it" Immediately, Daichi slumped back down onto his desk with an angry growl, which Nami ignored, as she began to write on the board in chalk. In a matter of seconds, a diagram of a small island and a small circle on the side which was to represent a compass. With this done, Nami turned back towards her family and adjusted her spectacles before continuing

"Now, I decided that it would be best for all of you to learn the basics of navigation, seeing as you all seem to have inherited your father's sense of direction…"  
>"And your mother's stunning good looks" Luffy muttered in addition, hoping to be forgiven by his wife and to be allowed to slink off back to his warm comfortable bed. Nami, however, pretended she didn't hear him (though the three children did notice her smiling a little more and her cheeks glowed a bright red after Luffy had made his comment).<p>

"And you need to have some sense of direction…so that's why you're all learning cartography!"

"What's cartlogramaphy?" Chika asked curiously. Nami chuckled at the little girl's innocent comment, before patting her on the head.

"Cartography darling" she cooed with a smile "it's the art of reading maps. It should help you learn to have a good sense of direction"  
>"We already have a good sense of direction mummy!" Haru called defiantly from his seat.<p>

"Really?" Nami asked with a sly smile "could you show me where north is then Haru?" at the request, the orange haired boy felt a smile come to his lips. Finally, he was going to get his chance to stand out.

POINT!

"…Haru…north is not the same as upwards…"

"…MUMMY, UNCLE ZORO'S A LIAR!" Nami sighed at her son's cry.

"Uncle Zoro is also an idiot sweet heart. Trust me, you don't want to ask him, or your father for that matter, for directional advice…" the orange haired mother looked up at Luffy, who gave her an awkward smile in response. As much as she wanted to be stern with him, Nami couldn't help but give him a smile in return. Quickly, Nami refocused herself, however, and withdrew a large map of Cocoyashi she had prepared the night before.

"Now, it's time for me to teach you all the basics of navigation!"

A loud groan met this statement and Nami immediately shot a glare back over her shoulder.

"If you don't learn it, then no-ones having any meat…for a week"

Immediately, the pupils became silent. Luffy quickly grabbed the desk in front of him to stop him falling backwards off of his seat in shock. Daichi stared at his mother in disbelief, his eyes wide with fear. Chika looked as if someone had just shot a puppy with the way her dark brown eyes were almost watering. Haru's large grin was soon replaced with a horrible pout as the boy sulked in his seat.

"…Meanie mummy…" they all muttered in unison. Nami sighed to herself, but quickly refocused and held the large map out to everyone in the room.

"Now, can anyone tell me what this is?" she asked, pointing to one of the lines on the map, which circled around part of the water that was positioned a short way from Commi Island. No-one replied. Luffy had resorted to picking his nose and Haru was now copying him. Nami quickly reached over and pulled Luffy's hand back onto the desk, giving him a stern look. Luffy only smiled in reply however and, as usual, the smile assaulted Nami's defences and, for a moment, she actually considered putting the map away and letting them all go back to bed…

…She didn't but at least she considered it…

"No-one knows what they mean?"

"You must be a pretty bad teacher then…" a dark haired teen muttered from the back of the room, before getting assaulted by a ruler to the face.

"The lines are called Contour lines…" Nami continued regardless, only to be interrupted once more.

"More like Con-BORE lines" Haru muttered, earning Daichi another glare from his mother.

"You've been teaching him bad habits" she murmured. Daichi faked innocence at such an accusation but, unfortunately, lying was not one of his strongest points and he failed to hide the cheeky grin on his face. Nami sighed once more at this, mumbling something about 'father's son', causing Luffy to immediately look up at her in confusion as she proceeded to explain contour lines…unfortunately, none of her 'students' appeared to be paying attention. Haru was now doodling drawings on his piece of map paper, Daichi was snoring on the back of the chair and Nami was even aware that even though Luffy was looking up at her, his eyes locked with her own and even following her gaze as she spoke, he was more interested in her voice itself than the words she was speaking. He was trying to focus and Nami was glad that he was at least doing that…unfortunately, as much as he tried to listen, Nami's voice merely whisked through one ear and jumped out the other, diving gracefully into the air.

Her efforts were hopeless…

None of them were learning anything about…

"So contour lines show how tall things are mummy?"

Immediately, Nami's head whipped round to face the raven haired girl, who was currently staring at her with wide eyes. Nami paused for a moment, before nodding slowly.

"…Yes…contour lines join a line of areas with a similar height, such as mountain levels or sea levels" she replied after a moment of surprise. Chika nodded, before looking back down at the map paper…where, to Nami's surprise, she was attempting to make notes of the information! Granted, as a five year old, her hand writing wasn't too neat and she simplified a lot of the advanced words Nami had said…but here she was, a little girl writing as quickly as she could as if overcome by a passion of navigation. Nami couldn't help but smile at Chika's enthusiasm and she almost wept a tear of joy when the little girl looked up and asked her to continue.

"…tell me Chika…" the orange haired woman asked, bending down in order to look her in the eye "do you know which direction a compass points?"  
>"North" the little girl replied as simply as if she had said it without even having to donate time to thinking about it "why?" In reply, Nami merely smiled before ruffling her hair.<p>

"No reason" she replied, failing clearly to hide her smile as she continued to explain the details of contour lines and their application. All the while, whilst the three boys in the room remained mostly distracted and uninterested, one black haired little girl continued to listen intently, copying down what her mother was saying to the best of her ability. To Nami's laughter, she was even encouraging Haru to sit up and pay attention by nudging her brother's arm, which the young boy attempted to do, before almost falling asleep in his seat.

"Maybe there's some hope for them after all…" Nami thought to herself with a small smile…

* * *

><p>"We're going the wrong way daddy" Luffy turned around with wide eyes, looking down at his daughter.<p>

"What?" he asked in shock.

"We're going the wrong way" Chika repeated, pointing towards the path to the right which had currently gone unnoticed by her father "that's the way to town" Luffy stared at Chika for a moment in confusion, before pointing in the direction they had been walking in looking quite puzzled.

"…Then…which way was I walking?"

"You were heading to the sea daddy" Chika simply explained. Luffy blinked in confusion for a moment, before laughing loudly.

"I totally knew that" he said with a grin "I was just thinking that we could take the scenic route!" quickly, hoping to avoid further embarrassment, the straw-hat captain began quickly walking in the opposite direction.

"…Er…Daddy…you're going the wrong way again…" Once more Luffy stopped in his tracks, unable to fully comprehend just where he was going anymore.

"…tell you what princess" Luffy suddenly exclaimed, crouching down to Chika's level "why don't you lead the way and I'll get you some ice cream in town?" Chika seemed more than happy with Luffy's offer and gleefully grabbed her daddy's hand, pulling him along the right path this time, happily skipping as she went. Luffy laughed at the child's optimism and allowed himself to be pulled along, a wide grin spreading across his face.

Now, he finally understood why Nami had insisted he take Chika with him into Cocoyashi with him when he had volunteered to go get the week's shopping…and it wasn't just so he wouldn't lose the list or pick up more meat than necessary as he had first thought (though this did bring up the question of whether you could honestly have too much meat, which he was sure his daughter would agree was impossible).

"Looks like it's more than the will of D that gets passed on" Luffy thought to himself and with a wide smile of pride at Chika's navigational skill, both father and daughter walked happily into the distance, hand in hand.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Until next time, I'm Shadowonthewall6 and I hope you've enjoyed this latest one-shot<strong>_

_**Please review. Positive criticism is welcome.**_

_**Speculations for what the letter D will stand for can now begin XD**_


	4. D

_**ANOTHER CHAPTER OF A-Z THAT DOESN'T TAKE ABOUT A YEAR TO WRITE! WHAT'S GOING ON HERE!**_

_**Well, the simple answer would be that I've left college recently *celebratory dance* and so whilst I'm waiting to get into University, I've got a lot more free time on my hands to start writing more of these stories, especially since there's nothing to distract me from writing anymore (anybody out there seen the Legend of Korra? That's been my latest fascination as of late and now it's over, I have nothing much to distract me from writing…but I'm sad because I'll have to wait such a long time for Book 2 :()**_

_**Anyway, back onto the subject at hand, I hope I can update A-Z and a few of my other stories more frequently over the Summer (fans of my Scarlet Wind story, I won't spoil but you've got quite the treat in store for you :3)**_

_**So without further ado, let's dive right into the latest fluff filled one-shot of A-Z. I hope you all enjoy :)**_

* * *

><p><em><strong>D is for Daring<strong>_

Daichi was, for lack of a better word, daring.

Like his father, he had no idea just how lucky he was and he had exploited his unbelievable luck on many an occasion, including one time where he had almost been killed by a runaway cart all because he wanted to save a toy he had dropped into the middle of the road…

The cart never stood a chance…

Especially against a well aimed gear second punch from the boy's father, who had been coincidentally walking by, hoping to meet up with Nami and his baby son in town.

The power over fate came with the title of the D and Daichi was constantly pushing the boundaries of just how lucky he was.

He loved games and loved taking risks…

But he had never been one for complexity…which is why that lunch had been such a surprise to all who were present…

* * *

><p>Seeing as the weather was quite nice for a change, Aesop, Daichi, Kuina and Oliva had decided they were going to all have a walk around Commi Island to the caverns on the far northern side of the island…<p>

As it turned out the 'glorious cave of diamonds and jewels' was not at all how it had been advertised by their liar and instead, it had ended up being nothing more than a cold damp scar in the middle of a beautiful rock face, which opened up into a dimly lit and boring cavern.

Aesop tried to tell the group of the true magical nature of the cave, but they quickly disregarded him and decided to make the most of the rest of the day. Plus, it was lunchtime and Daichi's raging appetite meant that none of them were going to have any peace until his stomach was provided for.

Luckily, this eventuality had been prepared for.

Aesop's skill as a story teller was only bested by his skill with cuisine. Having spent many of his days stealing Sanji's cookies and sweets with his loyal accomplice Daichi, Aesop had soon developed a fine taste for food and had soon discovered that he was a natural at cooking and preparing food.

Sanji still made Aesop look like he was a canteen worker in some measly prison, but that didn't mean that the food was that horrible, merely only when one compared it to Sanji's gorgeous cooking…and seeing as Daichi didn't care what he ate as long as his stomach was filled, he was quite happy to sit down with his friends to enjoy Aesop's latest culinary test: a picnic.

Overall, the food was tasty enough for the group (except for Oliva, who insisted that it was possibly the best food she'd ever tasted, once more bringing Aesop into a state of flustered joy) and it satisfied even Daichi's large appetite.

"Ah!~" Daichi gasped with joy, leaning back against the grass and closing his eyes to gently take in the beauty of the sun's rays "this is the life~"

"Yeah!" Aesop shouted in agreement, flopping down beside Daichi on the grass "Sun, sea and my three best pals~"

"What could be better?" Oliva questioned as she gracefully lay down next to Aesop, joining the group in looking up at the sky.

"Absolutely nothing" Kuina commented, allowing herself to fall backwards onto the grass with her sister, staring up at the blue sky like everyone else. Both Oliva and Aesop nodded in return, whilst Daichi, however, remained completely still, as if in thought.

"I mean, the cave was a bit of a disappointment" Kuina admitted with a shrug, before casting a glance towards the long sprawling coastal path which they had travelled along to get here "but this view more than makes up for it"

"And that picnic was amazing" Oliva agreed, once more making Aesop smile widely.

"Think nothing of it" the long nosed boy said, attempting to make himself seem calmer than he appeared "after all, I enjoyed preparing it as much as you loved eating it"  
>"Maybe I could help prepare the next picnic with you then?" Oliva offered with a flirtatious smile. Immediately, Aesop looked like he was panicking and tapped his hands nervously on the ground, searching for an answer.<p>

"Y-y-yeah, maybe…" he said with an awkward laugh, before coughing loudly, ignoring the look Oliva was giving him "so…er…what do you want to do now?"

"…Er…have a nap?" Kuina suggested, giving a loud yawn. Her older sister and Aesop both rolled their eyes at this, knowing how much Kuina loved her afternoon naps.

"No, I mean something we can ALL do" Aesop said with a sigh "I don't know, we could play a game or something like that…"  
>As soon as the word 'Game' had been spoken, Daichi had sprung up from his laid back position and flashed a wide grin at his friends.<p>

"You know, we could play some poker?" he suggested to their surprise.

"What?" Kuina asked, suddenly losing all interest in sleep at the boy's suggestion "you want to play a card game?"  
>"Yeah, nothing too complex" Daichi admitted with a grin "just…straight up poker. You guys in?"<p>

Daichi was clever.

Usually, in any other circumstance, his friends would never have agreed to play a card game with Daichi, for two simple reasons. Daichi was lucky and he loved gambling. Originally, his love for gambling had been created through a weird mix of Nami teaching Daichi to appreciate money and Luffy teaching him to constantly seek out ways to test his skill.

Poker was one of Daichi's favourite games and so far, he had never lost a single game. He had even managed to beat Robin (especially when the woman had actually began to play fair, not using her ability to spawn body parts so that she could see what hand he was using) and that in itself was an achievement.

Luckily, the overall good mood his companions seemed to share coupled with the good weather and Kuina's competitive attitude easily worked in his advantage.

* * *

><p>In a matter of seconds they had begun playing and, quite quickly, the game had seemed to have become very interesting. Kuina's poker hands were incredible, ranging from a royal flush to even holding all four kings. Oliva and Aesop generally had mixed luck with their hands…but Daichi, on the other hand, was pathetic. Every round, his hands were the most worthless hands you could ever imagine. For someone who usually had the luck of the devil, it appeared that Daichi had been abandoned and the worse he got, the more confident the other players became.<p>

After an hour of playing, Aesop and Oliva decided that they had become bored of Kuina winning and gave up. Kuina shrugged and moved to put the pack away, when suddenly Daichi's hand lashed up and gently smashed down onto the deck of cards. The tips of his fingers met hers and for a brief second, Kuina felt a tingle run down her spine.

"One second" Daichi murmured "how about we play one last game?"  
>"Daichi, it's over" Kuina simply replied with a sigh "Aesop and Oliva are bored and it's about time we start heading back"<br>"One last game" Daichi repeated "I'll make it worth your while…"

Now this definitely enticed Kuina's interest and the green haired woman leaned forwards in interest.

"What do you mean?"

"It's simple" Daichi said with a grin "if I win, you have to do something for me but, if you win, then I promise that I'll buy that new sword you've had your eye on at the markets in town" Immediately Kuina felt like leaping for joy.

"YOU MEAN YOU'RE GOING TO BUY ME THE MISUTO NO KEN?" Kuina squealed with delight, her eyes sparkling bright with ambition. Daichi nodded.

"Possibly…if you can win one more game..."

"YOU'RE ON!" Kuina announced boldly, sitting back quite patiently as she waited for Daichi to cut the deck. By now, Aesop and Oliva had become interested in the personal duel between the two friends and whilst they were standing up and preparing to leave, they still watched as Daichi shuffled the deck quite vigorously, before handing out the cards to each player. In a matter of seconds, five cards found themselves resting in front of Kuina and the green haired girl snatched them up greedily to examine her hand.

"The Queen of Hearts, the king of Spades, the king of Clubs, the king of Diamonds and a two of hearts" Kuina thought to herself with a laugh "he's dead meat. There's no way I'm going to lose this with the luck he's been having, I won't lose to…" It soon became clear to Kuina that Daichi had not yet moved to pick up his cards. Instead, he was sitting there, quite calmly, watching her with a smile on his face.

"What?" Kuina asked, realising that Daichi was up to something. The boy simply shrugged in reply and winked. Kuina was confused by the boy's attitude and, after a nervous cough; she decided to address her concern.

"Why've you not looked at your hand yet?" she asked with a tilt of her head. Daichi replied by simply tapping the back of the cards on the ground and smiling widely.

"I…I just know I've got a good hand" he replied simply "And I know I'm going to win…" For a moment, there was complete silence.

Then, Kuina burst out into loud and undignified laughter, shocking both Aesop and Oliva into paying more attention.  
>"You're not even going to look at your cards?" she asked with a sly grin "you're doomed"<p>

"Why don't you come at me and find out then?" Daichi replied, resting his chin in his hand and staring deep into Kuina's brown eyes, the smile on his face never fading for an instant. This stunned Kuina a little and for a moment, Daichi's confident state seemed to shock her to silence.

"…Y-you're bluffing…" she muttered, shaking her head at the dark haired boy.

"Like I said, find out for yourself…" he replied, gesturing to the cards on the ground with a laugh. Kuina found herself shaken slightly by Daichi's defiant offer. The boy had no idea what was in his hand and yet he was sitting there in full confidence that he would win.

The look in his eyes was bold and determined and as much as Kuina wanted to take him up on that offer, she found herself silent, simply watching the cards which Daichi had placed face down.

"He's bluffing, he has to be" Kuina thought to herself "you can't have not even taken a peek at your cards and BE this sure of yourself…"

"But…but what if he has got a good hand?" a soft timid version of her own voice called out in Kuina's mind "he doesn't know what hand he has…but neither do you. He could have more than your three kings…"

"Impossible" Kuina replied to her own thought "he…he can't…he must be bluffing…he has to be…but…then why is he so confident?" Kuina's head was running in circles, contemplating all of the possibilities. The hidden hand had suddenly become a much bigger and much unsure threat.

She wasn't sure which made her more nervous, the fact that Daichi refused to pick up his hand or the fact that he was still smiling widely, confidently content in his victory. The threat of the unknown and Daichi's calm disposition were beginning to make her question herself.

That intense stare of his was making her feel a little lightheaded…

No! She couldn't let Daichi toy with her like this. He was just trying to intimidate her and it had worked for a second, but not longer. Slowly, she reached across to grab hold of the middle card in Daichi's hand.

"By the way…I never told you what I'd get from you if I win" the raven haired boy suddenly announced, causing the green haired girl to jump.  
>"You're not going to win!" Kuina replied.<br>"When I win…" Daichi continued regardless, ignoring Kuina's voice and now staring at her face "I want you…" he paused for a moment, as if building up more tension. Of course, Kuina fell straight for the boy's bait and leant closer towards him.

"What?" she said in an almost growling tone. Daichi chuckled, however and leaned in closer in return so that his mouth was now mere centimetres from her ear. As he spoke, the warm breath caused Kuina to blush…and she turned an even darker shade of red when she realised exactly what Daichi had said.

"When I win, I want you to go on a date with me"

Slowly, Daichi pulled away from the green haired girl, a new smile resting on his lips. Kuina was silent. Her face was a deep red and her mouth was hanging open slightly like a fish. Daichi didn't say anything more, however, and just kept smiling at his prey, ignoring Oliva and Aesop's murmurs of confusion and surprise.

"…y-y-you…" Kuina stuttered "y-y-you want…to…go…on a…d-d-d-d-d"  
>"Date?" Daichi whispered in a low husky tone "it's not that hard a word to say Kuina, I bet Haru and Chika can pronounce it easily"<p>

"...A-a-are…are you serious?"  
>Daichi's expression answered her as his lips twitched slightly into a focused frown.<p>

"I'm not going to joke about something like this…" he muttered, almost hurt she had suggested such a thing. Kuina felt an aching pain in her chest at the look Daichi cast her but now, she could no longer find the energy to speak.

Such a question…such a possibility…she hadn't thought about…

Okay, yes, she had thought of it before…lots of times…too many really.

Kuina had been aware about her growing feelings for Daichi for a long time. It had started off small but the more they were together and the more he would smile at her like she was the most precious thing in his life had made her start to doubt her own willingness to have Daichi be her 'friend'…

She had considered on many occasions trying to be more than that…

BUT THIS!

THIS SHE HAD NOT SEEN COMING!  
>What kind of guy asks you out during a poker game?<p>

Where was the bright red sunset on the horizon?

Where were the fireworks in the background and the flowers and the chocolates?

HAD SHE REALLY FALLEN FOR A GUY WHO TREATED GETTING A DATE WITH HER LIKE IT WAS A NEW GAMBLE OR A NEW ADVENTURE?...

…

Though Kuina commented against the shouting in her brain, that she too liked to gamble and she LOVED adventure…

"…You mean it?" she asked again after a short pause, a small smile growing on her lips at the prospect which the boy opposite her had suggested. Daichi nodded once again, though this time he looked quite irritated.

"Yeah, I just said that I was being serious. You're not one of those girls who plays hard to get, are you Kuina? Because we all know that you're not going to be able to keep that up for long with me" he mumbled to her in an annoyed tone. Kuina laughed loudly at the last comment, her cheeks now fading slightly to a pinkish colour. Never the less, with a confident smile, Daichi grabbed hold of the two cards either side of the middle card and without looking, flipped them over. Four aces now stood either side of the mysterious forbidden card. Slowly, Daichi's left hand pulled the card up off the ground, still hiding what was on the card from view. Then, with an even wider grin, Daichi held the card forwards to Kuina with a wink.

"I think this might belong to you…"

It was the king of hearts.

For a moment, all of those present were speechless. Aesop watched the proceedings with wide eyes, still not understanding how such a revelation had come about. Oliva was observing her sister's bemused and somewhat mesmerised expression with interest, giggling at how the usually confident and independent swordswoman had been easily been left dazed and disarmed.

Daichi and Kuina were not aware of the presence of anyone else, however, merely staring into each others eyes. Slowly, Kuina shuffled forwards. Daichi inched closer to her as well. Their lips were mere inches apart when…

"You cheated didn't you?" Daichi laughed loudly, flopping back down onto his back as Kuina's statement caught him totally off guard "that was how you knew you wouldn't lose, wasn't it?" the green haired girl continued "you knew what cards I had in my hand? This is a marked deck, isn't it?"

"Come on!" Daichi yelled, coming back up into a sitting position "I thought that was really romantic. I worked on that plan for…well, all of five seconds really…" Kuina sighed quite loudly but never the less, smiled back at Daichi.

"…How…long have you wanted to…" she started to ask curiously, only for the dark haired boy to interrupt her immediately.

"A while…a really long while..."

"Then why today?" Kuina asked, placing both of her hand on her chin and leaning closer towards the daring teen "why did you ask me now? Why not before?"

"I was waiting for the right time" Daichi replied simply "you said nothing could make today better…I disagreed and thought doing this would make this officially the best damn day ever. What do you think?" Kuina paused for a moment, leaving Daichi looking at her in worry.

Had he messed it up?

Did she not feel the same way?

Despite how confident he had been before, Daichi suddenly felt nervous as Kuina started to giggle.

"Alright then Daichi" she finally said happily "pick me up at six and we'll see just how good this day can get…"

"It sounds to me like you're excited about the idea of going on a date with me, huh?" Daichi commented with a wink "how long have YOU been waiting for me to ask?"

"Why don't you just stop talking about it and start making up for lost time?" Kuina asked in return, beginning to close her eyes slowly. Daichi followed Kuina's lead, leaning forwards as well, gently closing his eyes and smiling softly…

"Is this really important flirting that can't wait until later or can we finally start going home now?" Aesop suddenly called, interrupting the two before they could kiss. Daichi sighed loudly and heaved himself off the ground as he realised that his peaceful moment with Kuina had been well and completely shattered by Aesop. Kuina looked up at him as he rose, some sorrow detectable in her face at being interrupted.

"Excuse me whilst I go kill him…" Daichi growled through gritted teeth, turning to glare angrily at his best friend, before giving chase to the liar, who was already running away with yelps of fear. Oliva laughed as Daichi dashed past her in pursuit of his target, before turning to look towards Kuina, who was currently picking up the cards that Daichi had left scattered on the floor.

"He's definitely an impulsive one…" Oliva mumbled as she bent down to help her sister tidy up, seeing as Daichi was quite preoccupied with finding Aesop and teaching him the meaning of pain "I mean, that came out of nowhere…"

"I don't think I mind how random it was" Kuina admitted quite honestly, holding the King and Queen of hearts in her left hand and smiling down at them affectionately "at least it'll mean things will stay interesting...and as surprises go, this one was definitely a pleasant one"

"You know what dad's going to do when he finds out that you're going out with"  
>"I don't care" Oliva nodded in understanding. She couldn't really argue against that. This wouldn't be the first time Kuina ignored her father and it surely wouldn't be the last. Slowly, the two sisters stood up off the floor and Kuina slipped the pack of cards into her jean pocket and patted it to check it was in place, before strolling happily after the boys.<p>

"Are you really going to go on a date with him tonight?" Oliva asked suddenly "It's a bit short notice isn't it…and seeing as you've been friends for a long time, it might be a bit awkward you know?" Kuina stopped for a moment, taking in the words Oliva was saying before nodding and looking up to the sky above.

"Yeah…I know what you mean…it'll definitely be a new experience for the both of us and a bit of a gamble for it to actually pay off" she said, before turning round to face her sister with a smirk.

"But then again, Daichi isn't the only one of us who's daring. Is he?"

* * *

><p><em><strong>And D is for Date<strong>_

*Knock* *Knock*

*Creak*

"Hey Uncle Zoro, is Kuina…"

*slam*

"…Well…that was better than I'd expected…"

Monkey D. Daichi gave a large sigh and once more, straightened his black bowtie. He had expected the world's greatest swordsman to slash him up the instant he had knocked on the door but, miraculously, Zoro had managed to hold back his killer intent and had merely retreated back into the house. With a loud sigh, Daichi took his hands out of his tuxedo's pockets and, once more, knocked on the door.

There was a pause.

There was shuffling.

The door opened…

"…You're just as tenacious as your dad you know?"  
>"Yep" Daichi said with a nod. Roronoa Zoro glared down at Daichi for a moment, still remaining in the doorway. Despite how Daichi had grown over the last few years, the thirteen year old was still not as tall as the swordsman and Zoro revelled in this fact.<p>

The boy was currently dressed in, what looked like, a very expensive and well made suit. Knowing Nami, however, Zoro assumed that the suit itself had been stolen.

Finally, after a moment of waiting, Zoro lost his patience and made his move. He stepped out of the doorway, closing the door behind him. Daichi sighed and muttered a curse to himself. He had hoped to avoid this…but now, it looked like he had no choice…

"Daichi…"  
>"I'M GOING OUT WITH HER NO MATTER WHAT YOU SAY!" the raven haired teen interrupted, glaring up at Zoro with all the rage he could muster.<p>

"You're a good kid…"  
>"YOU'RE NOT GOING TO STOP ME! I'LL FIGHT YOU, I'LL KICK YOUR ASS AND…" Immediately, Daichi stopped mid-rant and stared up at Zoro in disbelief.<p>

"I…I'm sorry?"  
>"You're a good kid" Zoro repeated with a sigh "and I can tell that you really…care for Kuina"<p>

"More than anything in the…"

"LET ME FINISH" Zoro insisted, holding a hand up to silence the brash youth. Daichi instantly bit his lip, allowing Zoro to continue speaking "I know that you care for Kuina…and I know that you're going to take care of her…because if you don't, I'm going to castrate you with Wado"  
>That was why Daichi liked Zoro. He was blunt and to the point, choosing not to linger on the less important bullshit he often heard from others.<p>

"I am going to take care of her" Daichi replied simply "because…" for a moment, he paused and hesitated, almost as if he was afraid that the words he was going to say would cause the world to explode "…I…I love her…"

"I loved her first" was Zoro's quick counter "from before I saw her face, I knew that I loved her…and it's going to be hard for me to let her go gallivanting off with some cocky little brat from down the road…no offense"

"It's kinda hard not to take offense to that uncle Zoro" Daichi mumbled with a small grin. Luckily, Zoro didn't seem to have heard his complaint and continued on speaking.

"I'm just looking out for my little girl" the swordsman concluded "she and Oliva mean everything to me"

"Of course, I understand"

"No, you don't" the words were spoken not bitterly but more as an observation made by the swordsman's keen eyes. However, noticing Daichi's shocked expression, Zoro decided to break the awkward tension with a small smile.

"Not yet anyway…maybe…when you have a daughter of your own, you'll see what I'm going through" Despite this comment, an awkward silence still lingered between the pair.

"…Er…I don't think I'll be aiming for that on a first date sir…"  
>"DAMN STRAIGHT YOU WON'T!" Zoro shouted, suddenly unleashing all his bottled up rage in one burst. For a moment, Daichi could have sworn he saw Kitetsu shimmering in the dark.<p>

Luckily, it appeared to just be a trick of the moonlight…

That is until the flower which Daichi was keeping in his jacket pocket mysteriously fell to the floor.

If Daichi hadn't been scared before, the beheading of a poor innocent flower clearly showed that Zoro was not one for patience or joking.

"Hurt her and I will not hesitate to slice you into pieces little man whether I have to beat Luffy to do it or not" Zoro mumbled as he turned on his heel to face the door.

"I…I understand" Daichi simply responded, nodding to the green haired man with a smile "I'll look after her, I promise"  
>"You will" was all that the greatest swordsman in the world uttered, before he hesitantly pulled open the door to his home. As he went to enter, Daichi followed cautiously behind, ready for Zoro to attempt to decapitate him at a moments notice.<p>

Luckily, this did not happen and, against his better judgement, Zoro even held the door open for Daichi and allowed him to walk inside. The black haired teen gave a nervous nod before continuing on inside.

All in all, Daichi was surprised by what happened next. He had expected a similar lecture from Robin about her daughter's safety and other such matters as he walked slowly along towards the living room where the raven haired woman sat reading comfortably on the sofa wearing a dark pink jacket with a light purple shirt.

The pirate prince felt a large lump in his throat as he had stepped forward, remembering the stories his mother had told him about Robin and her powerful strikes in subduing marines. Her Hana-Hana fruit was a force to be reckoned with and as brave as Daichi was at facing the impossible, he still felt a shiver down his spine remembering exactly what Robin was capable of. She did join the crew as an archaeologist and, more importantly, an assassin and talents like that did not just so easily disappear…especially when someone was going out on a date with her daughter.

To his surprise, however, as the demon woman looked up at him, observing him with those dark blue orbs as he approached, she began to smile. Immediately, Robin had sprung to her feet, almost as if she had been preparing for this moment all afternoon. Before he could blink, she was standing in front of him, smiling that usual intimidating smirk down at him.

"Well now, Daichi, I see you're here to pick Kuina up…and looking quite dashing whilst doing it I must say…" after the comment which led Daichi to turning as red as his father in Gear Second, Robin immediately began studying him, nodding approvingly on his choice of attire. It had not been Daichi's choice to wear a tuxedo on that night but his mother had insisted.

"If you're going to take the girl out for meals at a fancy restaurant, then you're going have to look fancy yourself, instead of wearing your usual scruffy atture" she had said. Daichi hadn't really minded the idea of taking Kuina to an expensive place.

His mother had taught him to pick pockets at an early age so it was easy for him to retrieve the funds he needed in order to pay for a full three course meal for both of them and if it made Kuina happy, all the more reason to do it…

Unfortunately, wearing a suit was not one of Daichi's favourite hobbies and even now, despite the compliments Robin was showing on him, he felt extremely nervous and out of place. The black bowtie and the white shirt collar were too tight, his white dress shirt made him feel silly and the tuxedo jacket was slightly too big for him, trailing down just a little bit above his knees. Luckily, Robin appeared to think he looked suitable and, if she did, then hopefully Kuina would to...

Why did the sudden mention of her name suddenly make his heart beat faster?

"Er…where is Kuina anyway?" Daichi suddenly found the courage to ask. Robin chuckled softly in reply and pointed out the door to the staircase.

"I'll go get her. You stay right here" she said with a smile, before dashing off away. Zoro attempted to stop her from leaving, but failed as Robin quickly weaved around him and dashed up the stairs.

And so began another session of long and awkward silence…

Zoro had already said everything he needed to regarding 'the boy' and Daichi didn't really feel like making snarky remarks to the greatest swordsman on earth whilst he was in striking range so the two merely stood there for a long while not speaking, but instead staring at one another, attempting to analyse the others thoughts. It was almost as if the two were talking without exchanging words.

Zoro would nod in Daichi's direction. Daichi would shrug in return.

Zoro's eyes would glance over towards the door. Daichi would roll his eyes in agreement.

Daichi would smile at the swordsman. Zoro would instantly break the boy's spirit with a shake of his head.

The raven haired boy sighed to himself and tapped his foot nervously on the floor.

This had to be the most awkward moment in his life.

"…So…where are you taking her?" Zoro suddenly asked, looking away from Daichi.

"Oh…I'm, er, thinking of going with Kuina to, er, the Baratie" the boy replied, suddenly becoming very interested with the pattern on the carpet. Zoro eyebrows rose.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I called a favour with uncle Sanji and he's arranged for Zeff to have the restaurant nearby enough so I can just take Kuina on the waver"

"That old chef's still going strong?" Zoro mumbled in confusion. Daichi nodded "well that's a…hang on a second, what do you mean you're taking Kuina on the waver?" Daichi paled considerably as Zoro's hand grabbed a firm hold of Kitetsu. If the sword had legs, it would have been jumping for joy at the chance of carving someone new up for a change instead of the same old logs and steel planks Zoro found lying around. As it would happen though, luck was on Daichi's side.

"Alright Daichi dear, you can come out now!~" Robin's voice called encouragingly from the stair landing. Almost immediately, Daichi bolted to the door, barely dodging Zoro's arm as it lashed out to grab him. Soon, Daichi was safely standing at the bottom of the stairs, looking up towards Robin and Oliva, who were standing together at the top of the incline. Zoro reluctantly joined the boy, unable to kill him anymore due to his wife's watching eyes.

"Presenting Roronoa Kuina" Oliva called with a smile, before stepping aside. At the sight of Kuina, Daichi's jaw promptly hit the floor. Luckily, he closed his mouth quickly as Zoro once more began to fumble with Kitetsu's handle. Unlike usual, Kuina's hair was no longer tied up in a ribbon and now reached to just below her shoulders. To Kuina's irritation, her fringe, which had before Daichi's arrival had remained mostly well behaved and had kept it itself away from her face, had instantly flew down at word of his arrival, meaning that part of her face was now obscured by a few loose stands of hair.

The green haired girl was currently wearing a dark purple dress which descended just about below her knees and was held in place by a single strap which hung over one shoulder holding it in place. Bright red in the face, Kuina slowly made her way down the stairs, being careful not to trip over her high heels as she moved ('How can anyone walk properly in these things?' she thought to herself as she went). She found herself looking away from Daichi's stare as she descended down to his level.

Of course, she hadn't expected the boy to drop onto his knees and proclaim her a goddess…but she wasn't exactly prepared for him being completely silent either. Daichi, after all, could be quite the loud mouth and the fact that he had suddenly become so quiet unnerved her a little. He was just looking at her and in that moment, all of the swordswoman's instincts deserted her. She could not read this opponent.

"Does…does he not like the way I look?" she thought, trying to get some piece of information from the dark haired boy's face. Unfortunately, she could retrieve no clues as to what he thought and, as she was growing slightly irritated by this, Kuina decided to nervously address the situation.

"...So, how do I look?" she asked with a smile, finding the balance and the courage to even give a little twirl as she reached the bottom step. Daichi, however, just didn't know how to reply. He was used to seeing Kuina as the tom-boy, always ready for a fight and the kind of girl who'd never be seen dead in a dress like the one she was wearing…

Yet, here she was, looking almost like an entirely different person. The only thing that reminded him that he wasn't going on a date with someone else was that the girl in front of him still had her dark brown eyes, bright green hair and, most notably, the same confident smirk that created butterflies in his stomach…and it was the sly smirk on her face which encouraged him to reply, in order to keep that smile as large as he possibly could.

"Wow…" the smirk on Kuina's face grew considerably wider at this comment as she finally realised that Daichi was utterly speechless at her appearance. Noticing how the pirate prince was gawping at his daughter, Zoro roughly nudged Daichi, who finally spluttered into life "…you…you look…just…perfect…" Kuina's bright red cheeks turned even darker at this comment and she could feel a giggle bubbling up in her throat.

"You look pretty good yourself" she said with a laugh, studying the strangely neat Daichi "you clean up nicely…"  
>"…Is that a compliment or are you saying I'm usually quite scruffy?"<br>"Don't ruin the moment" Kuina whispered with a wink. In a flash, she had lashed out a hand and grabbed Daichi's own before dragging him towards the door "don't wait up guys!"  
>"Wait a minute Kuina! I haven't got pictures yet!" Kuina shuddered to herself as her mother called to her from atop the stairs.<p>

"Mum, can't we do this later?" she asked, grabbing hold of the door handle and tugging it down as hard as she could. The hand which sprouted in front of her face out of the door's woodwork confirmed her worst fear that such an activity could not wait for a moment longer.

With a sigh, she turned round and glared at her mother, still tightly clutching Daichi's hand to the boy's utmost satisfaction.

"Can we make it quick? We can't lose the reserved seats" she pleaded.

"Actually, Sanji said we could come round any…" Daichi began, before Kuina angrily stomped on his foot, promptly shutting his mouth.

"Don't encourage her" Kuina whispered through gritted teeth to her date, feeling rather flustered as her mother approached with the family camera in hand.

"Alright then, huddle up you two, I need to get you both in the picture" Robin encouraged with a smile. Before Kuina could object to such a thing, Daichi had shuffled in closer towards her and was starting to smile.

"Come on, let's just get it over with if you don't want us to spend all night here doing a photo shoot?" Daichi muttered into her ear. Kuina blushed uncontrollably in reply and simply wrapped her arm around Daichi's own arm, before forcing herself to smile. Quickly, Robin capsulated on the moment, snapping a photo. The instant the flash faded, Kuina immediately shot back towards the door, dragging Daichi with her.

"Well, it's been good, but I and Daichi are going to go now!" she announced to no dispute.

"This is a good photo" Robin called after her, examining the newly produced photos with a smile "you two make a cute couple"  
>"BUT NOT TOO CUTE!" Zoro added, glaring at Daichi as Kuina finally opened the door and sprang outside, dragging her date with her.<p>

"Have fun you two!~" Robin shouted after the two with a grin.

"KEEP YOUR HANDS TO YOURSELF BRAT!" Zoro added, almost pushing his wife out of the way to sprout threats at the retreating couple.

"Bring her back alive" Robin responded calmly.

"BRING HER BACK BY EIGHT!"

"Twelve" Robin coolly commanded, ignoring Zoro's hotheaded yells.  
>"NINE!"<p>

"Eleven"  
>"TEN!"<br>"Ten- thirty"  
>"YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME, LET THEM STAY OUT FOR THAT LONG AND YOU DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH TROUBLE THAT BRAT WILL GET HER INTO"<p>

* * *

><p>Luckily for Daichi and Kuina, most of these yells fell on deaf ears. As soon as they were off the porch, Kuina had broken into a run and Daichi, no longer content to being dragged along like sort of pet, quickly began sprinting along as well. In a matter of moments, both Kuina's parents and her home were out of sight. Eventually, the two did finally slow down once they were far enough away from the house to no longer be seen or heard. They chose to sit on a nearby rock for a moment to rest, both panting heavily as the strain of their sprint finally caught up with them.<p>

"Sorry about that" Kuina finally mumbled, looking down at the dirt in distain "mum can sometimes be a bit…"  
>"Overbearing?" Daichi suggested, checking for stones in one of his fancy black shoes that were now covered in dust.<br>"Yeah…and dad can be…"

"Overprotective?"  
>"An idiot, yeah" Kuina replied, turning to face Daichi with a smile. Daichi let out a loud chuckle, before giving his date a similar look. Slowly, the black haired boy stood up from his spot, offering Kuina a hand as he did so. The green haired girl gently took the hand and pulled herself up off the rock into a standing position.<p>

"So…Baratie, eh?" she asked with a smile, remembering Daichi's comment about Sanji.

"Yeah, I was thinking we could pick up the waver from Franky, since he's been repairing it for my mum and then we can just sail off over there" the pirate prince explained. Kuina nodded slowly in confirmation and with that, the two began to start walking along in the dying light.

"Daichi…you do realise that you're still holding my hand right?"  
>"Problem?"<p>

"Not at all" Kuina replied, moving in closer so that her head was resting on Daichi's shoulder as the two continued onwards.

* * *

><p>As they moved along, a single eye that had been staring at them from the rock disappeared. Robin let out a loud sigh and turned towards her husband.<p>

"Well?"  
>"Well what?" Zoro asked, glancing at his wife.<p>

"If we stay this far away, my Hana Hana fruit won't be able to keep a watch over them. They've just passed out of my range. I'm good at observation but even my power has its limits" Robin explained. For a moment the green haired swordsman that stood beside her paused in thought. His brow furrowed and the scar over his right eye twitched nervously.

"…Let's give them a bit of privacy, eh Robin?" the black haired woman's eyes widened at Zoro's request and she turned to him with a perplexed look on her face.

"You don't want to keep an eye on them?" she asked "I thought you were the one who said you didn't like the idea of Kuina going on a date unsupervised…especially considering whom she was going out with"

"No, I do not" Zoro simply responded, only answering Robin's first question. The raven haired archaeologist blinked in confusion but her lips quickly formed her a small genuine smile.

"So then, you trust the idea of Daichi being with our daughter?" Robin inquired "Well, I must say that I'm rather proud of you Zoro…"

"Don't get me wrong!" the master swordsman suddenly interrupted "I don't trust the brat at all. He's the product of a pirate king and a witch. Who knows how crafty he is"  
>"Zoro…" Robin sighed.<p>

"BUT" Zoro quickly continued "I trust my daughter and now, she is old enough to decide what she wants and she's strong enough to look after herself. If she wants to be with this…boy, then I won't stop her from being with him…I damn well won't like it but I won't stop her…" Robin couldn't help but smile at Zoro's words. Slowly, she stepped closer towards him, bringing his arm around her waist.

"They do say that if you love something, you should let it go" she whispered. Zoro simply nodded. A simple silence followed this as the two parents stood together on the porch, watching as the sky slowly darkened and the stars began to twinkle in the night.

"…I think they'll make gorgeous grandchildren"  
>"Robin, please don't ruin the moment…"<p>

* * *

><p><em><strong>Until next time, I'm Shadowonthewall6 and I've realised that a lot of my previous sign off lines sound really bad out of context because I shamelessly copied and pasted them from other places…LAZINESS FTW!<strong>_

_**Please review. Positive criticism is welcome.**_


	5. E

_**Updates galore! First Scarlet Wind and now another A-Z one-shot. Aren't I good to my readers? (Despite the fact I haven't updated most of my stories in over a year.) I'd like to think so.**_

_**Anyway, without further ado, I hope you enjoy this latest one-shot. Warning: This one-shot isn't as lighthearted as the others but I feel it's a point that needs to be touched upon, considering A-Z is based on a possible future for the Straw-hats.**_

* * *

><p><em><strong>E is for Emergency<strong>_

Nami let out a soft sigh. The morning sunlight tickled her shoulders and the only sound that filled the air was the soft twitter of birds. As much as she hated to admit it, Nami was missing the noise. Daichi and Kuina had volunteered to babysit the kids for the day and had gone to see a carnival that had arrived in town (much to the older sibling's displeasure as he had clearly been aiming to get some make-out time with his new girlfriend).

After having woken and eating an early breakfast, leaving a lazy Luffy to lie in bed, Nami had taken to tending the small mikan grove outside of her house. She had managed to keep a grove since she first joined Luffy's crew and it felt wrong to kick the habit after such a long time. She had actually managed to make a rather large collection, though it was nothing compared to Nojiko's grove.

Nami laughed to herself as she remembered returning home for the first time in years only to discover that her sister had taken over Bellemere's collection of mikans and, since her absence, had transformed the simple grove into a large and successful farm. Mikans had officially become the most popular produce from the East Blue and Nojiko's mikans were the most sought after, considering their delectable taste and their amazing quality.

Nami's mikans, however, were solely for the sake of feeding her own family. It appeared that every one of her children and even her husband loved them so she still enjoyed tending to it with the same care and affection that Bellemere had shown her as a child. After she was finished cutting the pesky weeds that were creeping up on her beloved crops, Nami retreated back inside the house.

With a sly smile on her face, she slowly began to sneak back upstairs. There was no doubt in her mind that Luffy had to be awake right now. Luffy liked his sleep but not to the same extent as Zoro. He didn't want to waste the whole day away and miss a possible adventure…and seeing as the kids were away, Nami had quite the adventure in mind for him…

'Alright Luffy, I've done working on the grove and Daichi and Kuina are looking after the kids and shouldn't be back for some time,' she shouted, entering their bedroom with a wide smirk. 'We're all alone. I was thinking, it's been a long time since we had some "fun"…'

Nami's proposal was cut off suddenly as she heard a sound which she had become unfortunately rather familiar with over the last few months. From the bathroom, she could hear someone coughing loudly. Considering there was only one person with her in the house, Nami quickly realised what was happening.

Immediately, Nami dashed forwards, vaulting over the bed and quickly slamming open the door to the bathroom. Inside, she was met with a sorry sight. Luffy was doubled over on the floor and was pounding his chest as he choked on the air. His body continued to arc and shake as he coughed and each expulsion of air was like a clap of thunder in that small white tiled bathroom. Nami approached Luffy and crouched down beside Luffy, her arm going over his shoulder.

'…Luffy?' she whispered timidly, noting the pirate king's poor condition.

'T-the cabinet,' Luffy spluttered out, still coughing fiercely. Each cough echoed out to Nami as a cry of pain and it soon became obvious why as Luffy spat a red liquid from his mouth onto the floor. Nami didn't hesitate for a moment longer. She quickly dashed over to the cabinet, before turning back to Luffy, her eyes wide with panic but filled with determination.

'Which one?' she barked. She knew Luffy couldn't afford to wait. The black haired man continued his coughing fit but managed to spit out six words.

'Top shelf…far left…green bottle…' Nami followed his instructions, quickly rummaging around the top shelf of the cabinet.

'There's no green bottle!' she announced with a squeak of fear, turning back to Luffy. Now, the pirate king had slipped from the towel rack he was leaning on and was sitting against the wall, clutching his chest. His breathing had turned to wheezing and spluttering, mixed with the occasional throaty cough. His words were now even harder to decipher…but…

'Wrong…left…'

Nami groaned with frustration but Luffy knew his wife well enough to tell that inside that groan there was a fragment of worry and a large chunk of sadness, not simply irritation. In mere moments, Nami had hopped away from the cabinet, carrying the small green bottle in her hands. She quickly knelt down beside Luffy and placed the bottle to his lips.

'Now don't drink it too fast, remember what…' Her words, unfortunately, were lost on the idiot as he quickly snatched the medicine out of her hand and, after simply tilting back his head, he downed the bottle whole. Nami was so startled by this that all she could do was watch in amazement as Luffy forced the cocktail of medicine down his throat.

The rubber man's pale face contorted as the unpleasant fluid burned the inside of his mouth and tickled its way down into his body. It was as foul tasting as Luffy remembered and he was almost sick. Never the less, Luffy swallowed all of the liquid and then flung the bottle carelessly to one side. It shattered into pieces against the wall but neither Luffy nor Nami offered the broken bottle a second look. The orange haired woman grabbed hold of Luffy's hand as he finished with the bottle, whilst Luffy began taking long deep breaths of air.

The two sat there together on the floor of the bathroom for quite a while. Every time Luffy let out another deep breath, Nami felt more and more relieved with Luffy's condition and with every breath, the straw-hat captain began to feel better too. Slowly, his breathing returned to normal and a small grin graced his face. Nami let out a sigh of relief once it was clear that Luffy's coughing fit was over.

Luffy took his last deep exhale and then, sprang up off the floor, smiling widely as if nothing had happened.

'…What were you saying again Nami?' he asked with a wide smile. Nami, however, did not feel like smiling. She stood up and looked at her husband, her eyes full of worry.

'Luffy, it's getting worse.'  
>'I don't know what you're talking about,' Luffy muttered, attempting to lie but clearly failing by the way his upper lip poked out from his smile.<p>

'You know what I mean Luffy!' Nami said firmly. Luffy now noticed that she was trembling and quickly leapt up off the floor and pulled her into a comforting hug.

'Hey, Nami it's okay,' he called gently, rubbing a soothing hand along her back. 'It's okay…'

'But it's not okay Luffy!' Nami replied, pushing him away and glaring at her carefree husband. 'This is starting to happen more and more frequently. First, it was every year and now…now it's like you're going into fits every week or so!'

'I'm fine,' Luffy stated firmly. This failed in easing her however. Slowly, the pirate king stepped forwards but once more, Nami refused to let him hold her. Silent tears were starting to well up in her eyes.

'Did you go see Law about this like I told you?'

'Nami, there's nothing wrong with…'

'Did you go see him!?' Nami repeated, shouting the question this time. Luffy paused at the fierce tone in Nami's voice. He nodded meekly 'And?'

'And what?'

'What did he say?'

'…Nami, Law…'

'Is a certified doctor,' Nami finished. "He might not be as good as Chopper but he's still damn good. What did he say?' Luffy's face paled at Nami's question. There was a very particular reason that Nami had told Luffy to go to Law instead of Chopper.

If Chopper had examined Luffy for the source of his coughing fits, then everyone would know the results but, if the effects of the coughing were exactly what Luffy suspected, then he didn't want the crew to be aware. Whilst Chopper tried his best to respect patient/doctor confidentiality, he was still gullible and careless enough to sometimes let certain things slip to other members of the crew. It was how Robin had discovered about Nami's first pregnancy before she announced it to the crew.

Law, however, wasn't a very social fellow. He had been an occasional ghost on their adventures whom most of the crew had grown to see as ally, though not exactly as a friend. Luffy was the only one who kept in contact with Law but even then, things were sporadic at best. However, Law had indeed examined Luffy when the pirate king had asked.

Despite that, Luffy was not so pleased to share the news. He could see the concern in Nami's face and knew that his news wasn't exactly going to help her mood. With a sigh, Luffy slumped back against the wall, eventually finding himself sitting on the toilet, looking up at Nami.

'The coughing is caused by a few things,' Luffy finally began, looking deep into Nami's eyes as he spoke. 'But…Law thinks that it's mostly because of Gear Second."

'Gear Second?'

'The human body isn't supposed to take that much strain,' Luffy replied. 'The heart, even a rubber heart, isn't supposed to beat that fast and pump that much blood around the body so quickly. It's worn it out.'

'So what you're saying is…'

'He said all those times I constantly used Gear Second, I was essentially working my heart ragged…but it's tired and I've kept using up all my body's nutrients by doing it. Even rubber wears and devil fruit or not, at the end of the day, I'm still human…and those ten years Ivankov shaved off aren't exactly doing me any good…'

'Luffy, just tell me what he said!' Nami spoke sharply. Despite her demand, Nami still hoped that Luffy would explain it wasn't anything serious, that she was just worrying too much about his coughing fits.

Unfortunately…

Luffy had never been skilled at lying.

'Law thinks I'm dying.'

That was the final straw. Nami had tried to control her emotions but when her worst fear was confirmed, she could not hold it any longer. Before the first tear left her eyes, Luffy was holding her tightly, allowing her to soak his shoulder. Nami's arms found his back.

'Nami, it's okay,' he soothingly called into her ear. Nami didn't reply. When she tried, it came out as a gurgled sob and eventually, she decided it would be simply better to hide against Luffy's chest. The two stood there together as Nami continued sobbing into her husband, whilst Luffy held her tight. Slowly, Nami calmed down enough to speak properly once more.

'How long did he say you have left?'

'Nami, I'm not going to…'

'How long!?' she shouted.

'Five years…at most.'

'At most?'

'Law couldn't exactly gauge how long my body can keep running for but he does suspect that it's definitely starting to fail me,' Luffy explained. He felt Nami tighten her grip around him.

'So we only have five more years together…'

'Nami! I am not going to die!' Luffy shouted, gently grabbing Nami's face before forcing her to look up at him. The orange haired woman sighed. Denial.

'Luffy…what was it you once said to Vivi?'

'Kenichi can pick his friends and pick his nose but he shouldn't pick his friend's nose?'

'No, not that,' Nami corrected, a memory of a very young Haru and Kenichi playing together in the garden popping into her mind. The thought almost made her smile. Sadly, smiles weren't exactly welcome to Nami right now.

'Do you remember what you said?' Nami asked once more. 'What you said to Vivi, back when we first arrived in Alabasta, when we were crossing the desert to Alubarana and you made us turn around and go to Rainbase?' Recognition dawned on Luffy's face but he said nothing.

'Do you remember what you told her?'

'Nami…'

'People die.'

There was a pause. Luffy looked at the floor, Nami looked at him. Neither seemed to want to speak.

'Yes, they do. People do die,' Luffy admitted finally. "But I'm not people, I'm not going to die.'

'How can you say that with all…'

'Because of you!' Luffy snapped, pointing straight at her. Nami's eyes shot open.

'M-me?'

'I'm not leaving you!' Luffy shouted, clasping Nami's hand tightly in her own to show he was serious. 'I'm not leaving you or the kids or the crew or anyone. I am not dying because I don't want to!' Nami stared at Luffy in shock. He didn't want to leave her? Of course he didn't. Did he think she wanted him to disappear? She was just as upset as he was about this!

'And that's it, is it?' Nami suddenly thundered. 'Just because you don't want to die you're not going to? Luffy, life doesn't work like that.'

'Things have worked that way so far!' Luffy argued, holding up his hands in defence. 'Look at me! I'm still here!'

'Barely,' Nami commented.

'But still here!' Luffy continued, smiling. Nami felt tears return to her eyes briefly but batted them away. She was going to miss that smile. Luffy seemed to sense her unease and once more pulled her into an embrace. This time, Nami found she could not fight back.

'Listen Nami,' he said with a voice as soft as a cool sea breeze. 'I'm not going to die just yet. Everyone dies sometime, I know that…but I'm not going to die for a while now so don't worry.'

'How can I not worry when you're…' Nami began, but Luffy interrupted her by kissing her gently on the lips.

'Nami,' he whispered as he pulled away. 'I might be dying and people do all die eventually…but right now, I'm here and I'm alive. That's what we need to focus on. If we dwell too much on me dying, life is going to pass me by…and being a parent with you is an adventure I want to see through to the end.' And then he smiled again. The same grin she'd seen so many times before. Whenever he had announced he was going to be king of the pirates. 'And if death doesn't like that, then I'll just have to kick his bony ass.' Silent tears slid down Nami's face and she let out the tiniest of laughs.

'So that's it?' she whispered. 'We just keep on living like nothing is going to happen?'

'It's what I'm going to do,' Luffy said with a grin. 'I'm going to live for the moment and I'm not going to let anything pass me by. Besides, I don't need to be afraid of death. I mean it's just our next big adventure.'

'OUR next adventure?' Nami wondered amongst her soft sobs.

'You don't think I'm going onto the afterlife without my crew, do you?' Luffy asked, giving her his brightest smile. 'I wouldn't miss an eternity with you guys for anything.' Nami felt her cheeks drying at Luffy's words and she offered him a smile.

'Love you always right?' she whispered.

'Always,' Luffy replied. For a moment, the two stood there, staring at one another. Then, a sly smirk came to Luffy's face.

'So…what were saying about having some 'fun'?' he asked with a smile. Nami laughed as she looped her arms around Luffy's neck. Yes, Luffy was right.

Everyone dies eventually.

But everyone has a chance to live too and that chance at life is worth more than any treasure in the world.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Well, there you go, my latest attempt at messing with your emotions.<strong>_

_**Until next time, I'm Shadowonthewall6 and I hope you've enjoyed this one-shot.**_

_**Please review. Positive criticism is welcome.**_


	6. F

_**Ah Summer, the time for random multiple updates of my stories as I desperately try to show all of you readers that I haven't forgotten about these stories.**_

_**So, we're on the letter F for this series of one-shots…and do you know what I realised? There are LOTS of words for F! Originally, this segment had four different titles to it but I eventually cut it down to two revolving around getting some character development and an omake at the end for pointless LuNa fluff that we all adore.**_

_**There may be another update in a while from me as well with another one-shot for this since I've been working on E, F and G simultaneously for a long while and I've only know got the urge to finish them off and post them.**_

_**So without further ado, I hope you enjoy this fairly long one-shot.**_

* * *

><p><em><strong>F is for Fainthearted<strong>_

Aesop learned very early on that being friends with Daichi was going to be an interesting and involving experience. Daichi had gravitated towards him at an early age and Aesop's earliest memory was of him and his friend playing.

The two had been taken by their father's on a trip on the beach. Usopp and Luffy were sitting on a rock nearby, dipping their fishing rods into the sea and talking about who knows what. All that Aesop could clearly tell from their loud laughter was that they were having a good time.

Aesop was content to sit on the sand and currently, he was attempting to build a magnificent sand castle. Sadly, he wasn't doing a very good job and it looked more like a lump of sand, but Aesop was still enjoying himself, as babies often do find pleasure in the smallest of things. Daichi, in turn, was adventuring over near the rocks.

Unlike Aesop, who still only crawled around, Daichi had learned to walk in order to effectively chase after Olvia when she stole part of a jigsaw puzzle Kuina was working on. Daichi had a thing for taking people he liked under his wing. Much like his father, he was very protective and assertive of whom he wanted to be friends with.

After a short while of exploring the rocks, he had grown bored and suddenly appeared before Aesop, looming above him like a giant from one of his father's stories. At first, he looked at the pile of sand and then turned to Aesop, bewilderment drawn across his features. Aesop, realising what Daichi wanted to know, informed him in a single word.

'Castle,' Aesop shouted, pointing to the sand. He didn't sound too thrilled about the sand being a castle but was simply acknowledging that a castle was what the pile of sand was meant to be. Daichi looked at the castle and then looked back up at Aesop in more confusion. He clearly lacked the imagination to see the grand spire of sand that Aesop could see.

At that moment, however, disaster struck.

A large wave crashed against the rocks and the two toddlers quickly scrambled away from the water in alarm. The water wasn't any harm to them and under the watchful eye of their fathers, they weren't in any danger.

The same could not be said for Aesop's sandcastle however. The mighty wave washed over the small spire and it collapsed into the ground before being dragged out to sea with the tide. Aesop stared at the retreating dusty water, eyes wide with sorrow.

'C-castle…' he muttered, heartbroken at the destruction of his master piece. A large flow of tears soon followed. They were quiet tears, so the chatting adults could not hear them but Daichi knew his friend wasn't happy. Daichi frowned. He didn't like it when his friends were unhappy. He thought for a moment of how to restore Aesop's broken tower. Sadly, this was impossible…

However, Daichi had another idea.

In a flash, he dashed over to a place nearby the rocks. For seconds, he searched frantically before finding what he wanted and dashing back to Aesop. By now, Aesop was mourning his lost castle quite severely, poking at the ground with his finger. Nothing could replace his grand invention. Daichi prodded his shoulder and slowly, the sad boy turned to look at him.

'Eyes closed,' Daichi said in a tone that sounded much like his mother when she was giving him a surprise. Aesop instantly obeyed. He knew the 'eyes closed' technique himself from his own parents. Briefly, the small Aesop wondered if mummies and daddies had a sort of code that they all spoke in: a secret parent language that was known universally. Quickly, he forgot about his question as he heard Daichi's voice.

'EYES OPEN!' Aesop did open his eyes and gasped. Where his lost sand castle had been, there was a large shell implanted in the ground. Daichi grinned and jumped for joy.

'CASTLE!' Daichi cried, flopping down onto his bottom accidentally. Aesop couldn't help but laugh. Daichi laughed as well and the two boy's gleeful cries called out all around.

'Castle! Castle!' Aesop called happily, which was, at the time, a way of congratulating Daichi on his renovations to Aesop's original design. Daichi smiled at Aesop and joined in the happy chanting.

'CASTLE! CASTLE! CAST…le…'

Almost as soon as it started, the chanting stopped as the castle began to move. The shell that Daichi had picked up was, in fact, a hermit crab. The crab had been sleeping peacefully in the water and had been rudely awoken by someone grabbing it and slamming it onto the sand. After a quick moment of recovery, the hermit crab was now awake and poked out of his shell to inspect the damage. What he saw was two large beasts towering above him. At the sight of the hermit crab's face, the faces of the two boys paled. They once more spoke, more screamed actually, in unison.

'MONSTER!'

* * *

><p>Though Usopp heard the shout first, Luffy was the first to react. He leapt up off the rock where he and Usopp had been sitting and quickly hopped over to where the children were.<p>

Whilst Luffy was relieved to see the kids unharmed and there was no real monster threatening them, he was still quite stunned at what he saw.

There was Aesop cowering on the floor from the hermit crab in fear. In front of him stood Daichi, who was boldly holding his arms out in front of Aesop, as if shielding him from the creature they had just discovered. As the hermit crab stepped forwards, Daichi stamped his foot and called out loudly, 'NO!'

At the time, the two boys could not say many things, but Daichi's message was clear.

'If you want my friend, you're going to have to go through me.'

Luffy chuckled softly at his son's nobility and quickly plucked the hermit crab up off the floor before returning it to its usual watery home. Aesop and Daichi were confused later when Usopp tried to explain to them that what they encountered at that moment was not a monster but a harmless hermit crab. Aesop wasn't sure what a hermit crab was but he didn't think that he liked one.

That was not the only reason why Aesop was confused though. As soon as his father had removed the demonic creature from their presence, Daichi had turned to him and smiled. He had pointed to Aesop and then he had pointed to himself. He said one word.

'Nakama'

At the time, Aesop had heard the word said frequently by his father, but mostly in relation to brave adventurers or noble heroes gathering comrades for a great battle. He wasn't exactly sure what a 'Nakama' was really but he knew that Daichi saw him as one. It didn't seem to be anything bad either since Daichi had announced Aesop's position as his 'Nakama' with a cheery smile, almost with pride that Aesop was this strange new word.

Therefore, Aesop concluded that day that whilst he didn't know what a 'Nakama' was, he was proud to be one of Daichi's.

From that day onwards, Aesop had been Daichi's best friend and that was something Aesop was very happy of. One thing he was not happy about was how that day had set a precedent for their friendship.

Daichi was the brave and outgoing one, always the first to jump into a fray and clearly the more athletic of the two. On the other hand, Aesop was, to put things simply, a coward. Daichi preferred to solve problems with his fists but Aesop was keener to talk his way out of situations. Daichi was the brawn and Aesop was the brain and as much as Aesop tried to convince himself that Daichi had chosen him specifically to be his friend, his right hand man so to speak, over someone stronger or braver, he still couldn't help but feel jealous of his friend's apparent lack of fear…

This jealousy was kindled by a small fraction of doubt that lingered in Aesop's mind: doubt that Daichi truly wanted him to be his first mate. Maybe it was simply a matter of convenience? Maybe Daichi had chosen him to be his nakama solely because he was there and for no other reason than that. After all, Kuina and Olvia both had there own skills to bring to the table.

Kuina was almost as strong as her father but also had her mother's patience at times. Olvia was incredibly intelligent and could also stand her own in a fight. Aesop was just…Aesop. He felt like he was just there, with no special powers or unique abilities to bring to the table and he didn't like that. Slowly, the constant doubts began to grow into questioning. Everywhere Aesop turned; his doubts mocked him with inquiries.

'How are you special?'  
>'Why are they your friends?'<br>'When do you think they'll finally realise that you're worthless?'

Aesop's answer to that last question was that he didn't know but that he didn't want to find out. He wanted to prove himself wrong. That he was an integral member of the group, that he wasn't just tagging along and that he too had something that he could do instead of sitting in the corner and moping.

* * *

><p>That was currently how he found himself, at the age of thirteen, dashing off into the trees in the search of firewood to prove that he was indeed the best firewood collector in the world.<p>

'Are you sure you'll be okay?' Olvia had asked, casting him a concerned glance and completely forgetting about the book in her hands.

'Yeah, it is a rather big place,' Daichi commented.

'And it'll be getting dark soon,' Kuina added. Aesop, however, simply laughed at their advice.

'Come on, I'll be fine' he reassured them with a smile. 'You guys set up camp and I'll go get the firewood. No point in setting up a camp and bringing marshmallows all the way into the woods if we can't get to roast them on an open fire.' The three friends nodded slowly in agreement.

'Okay, just be careful,' Olvia had said, casting her gaze back to her book and beginning to read where she had left of.

'What are you my mother?' Aesop joked, leaving the group in their small clearing. Olvia flinched at the question but, never the less, said not a word. Daichi and Kuina noticed her uncomfortable reaction to Aesop's comment and wisely decided to leave her be before beginning to pitch the tents, whilst Aesop had raced off on his own to find firewood.

The result of which was that he was now completely lost in the dark.

'Great thinking there Aesop,' he complained into the night. 'Go running off into the darkness on your own. That'll prove your place on the crew with the others.' Shaking his head, Aesop lashed his foot out at the nearest thing. The tree root didn't respond to Aesop's kick but Aesop still moved quickly onwards. In the pitch black night, even his own shadow frightened him.

His quest of recovering firewood quickly disappeared once he had a few pieces of kindling under his arm and Aesop instilled a new goal in his mind: find camp. Unfortunately, considering there was no fire to look for and he was well and assuredly lost, Aesop chances of returning to camp were shrinking faster every second. On top of him being lost, Aesop also felt exhausted. He was cold too, not to mention hungry. His stomach let out an unsatisfactory growl and Aesop glared down at it.

'Oh shut up,' he groaned. 'It's not like this was my idea.' Of course it was, but Aesop insisted on upholding his father's legacy as the liar. Another sigh escaped his mouth, accompanied with another growl from his stomach.

'At least it can't get any worse,' Aesop commented...only for a loud thunder crack to ring out from the heavens as he spoke. Aesop let out a small girly squeal before instantly calming down and shooting the sky a glare as it began to rain. 'Oh, this is much better…I'm lost, hungry and now it's raining. Universe, can't you give a break for just a…'

The answer to Aesop's unfinished question presented itself as the boy kicked against something hard and tripped over, landing flat on his face in a pile of mud. Aesop let out a groan, causing bubbles to rise from the mud as he resurfaced. It was official. The universe was out to get him.

Aesop pushed himself off the ground before assuming a kneeling position and collecting all of the wood he had unceremoniously dropped on the floor. His clothes were dirty and his pride was in pieces but he refused to give up on the quest his friends had sent him on. Continually grumbling under his breath, Aesop clawed at the floor in the hopes of locating the wood in the dark…only for his hand to make contact with something round and hard.

'What in the…' Aesop gasped, shimmying away from whatever he had touched. After a few seconds of complete silence, he finally gained the courage to reach out for the object again. It was still there whatever it was…and from a brief touch, Aesop discerned it wasn't a bloody hermit crab. Letting out a small sigh, Aesop readjusted himself and began to examine it.

Considering the unfamiliar object's position, it was undoubtedly the thing which Aesop had tripped over. Slowly, Aesop began feeling around the object, attempting to discover what it was. The item was spherical in appearance but the surface of its skin was decorated in swirls. At the tip of the object was a bizarre handle that felt more organic than metal. Finally, after giving the item a sniff, Aesop concluded what it was.

'A fruit?' he wondered aloud. His stomach roared in agreement. It was definitely food.

'I'm not going to eat something I found on the floor of a forest in the rain,' Aesop informed his stomach when it began bubbling in anticipation.

…Then again, he was really hungry.

Aesop glanced down at the object in his hand. Its swirling patterns were hypnotising him, calling for him to eat it. Aesop shook his head but he found himself unable to stop the thought now it was there. He was hungry and he just found food.

'Why not have a snack?'

'Because it was something I found in the dirt in the Jungle! Why would I eat it?' he tried to reason.

'It's food, isn't it? You're just scared again, aren't you?'

Aesop dropped the fruit on the floor and put his head in his hands. He was tired. Not just exhausted from walking, but tired of always being afraid. He was always worrying, always complaining.

Daichi never complained. He was willing to take chances. It seemed like each day he woke up with the notion that the day might be his last and he should make the most of it. Yes, he was impulsive and sometimes his actions were stupid but at the end of it all, he could smile and say he had done his best.

Since they had met, Daichi had not only been Aesop's best friend. Daichi and his courage had been what Aesop had aspired to. A man who was free of doubt, merely living his life to the fullest. Just for once, that was the kind of person Aesop wanted to be. Slowly, he glanced down at the swirled fruit on the floor.

What would Daichi do in this situation?  
><em>'Food is food.'<em>

Aesop closed his eyes and lifted the fruit to his mouth…

* * *

><p><em><strong>F is also for Fruitful…<strong>_

'So much for living life to the fullest,' Aesop thought as he wretched and heaved on the floor. The fruit had to be the foulest thing Aesop had ever tasted. What kind of cursed world existed where a fruit could taste that bad?

Aesop tried to voice his rage at the situation but it merely came out as an incomprehensible growl. His tongue shuddered at the horrible taste it had just been exposed to and refused to form the words his master desired. Chucking the horrible fruit to the side, Aesop hugged his knees against his chest. The rain refused to allow him peace, assaulting him with drop after drop from above. Cold, weary and alone, the blonde haired boy closed his eyes.

'I'm probably going to die out here,' he concluded with a weak nod. It certainly felt like he was dying. His body felt numb and everything ached. The fruit's strange taste was disappearing from his mouth but he could almost feel it working its way down his throat to his stomach. It made him want to be sick. Aesop clenched his fists, pulling his knees even closer. All at once, every fear, doubt and mistake came flooding back to Aesop's mind.

He had failed getting a proper amount of firewood.

He had failed in finding his camp.

He had failed to listen to anyone else.

No wonder he was always worried he would never be a part of the crew. Whenever he tried pulling his own weight, he seemed to collapse in on himself.

'Face it Aesop,' he mumbled to himself. 'Without Daichi and the others, what can you actually do?' Once more, he failed to find an answer. He wasn't as skilled with sharpshooting as his father had been. His skill with a sword was non-existent. In a fight, he was dead weight. On the crew, he had no purpose.

'If our parents hadn't been friends, I probably wouldn't even be on the crew.'

Each new thought horrified and depressed him more than last until, eventually, Aesop felt like he was on the verge of tears.

Daichi was taking pity on him.

Kuina must have seen as a weakling.

Olvia.

Aesop let out a whimper.

He didn't want to know what she thought of him. No matter how hopeless his position on the crew had seemed, he had always avoiding thinking about what Olvia thought.

She was always there encouraging him with a sly remark and a smile that looked as though she thought he was the most amazing thing she had ever seen. To Aesop, that meant everything.

Now, however, it was all starting to click into place.

When they were little, Olvia had been a huge brat and bullied both her sibling and Daichi repeatedly. Aesop had been her favourite target though. All those times she hid his crayons or stole his toys, her looks had been full of hatred.

Now, he couldn't unseen it.

There was Olvia, the new and reformed sweet Olvia.

His Olvia.

And there she was, glaring at him as if he didn't deserve to breathe the same air that she did.

With his eyes tightly shut, Aesop took an unstable breath, all the while tears dribbled down his cheeks.

All of his dreams were gone. He was never going to be Daichi's first mate. He wasn't going to become a great swordsman, write an encyclopedia about everything in the world and he certainly didn't have a chance of becoming king of the pirates. In Aesop's head, a new simple dream formed. He didn't want to be alone for a second longer. He wanted to be back at camp with his friends.

He tensed as a cold wind blew past him. His senses grew weak and for an instant, he felt every one of his feelings go dull. When it was all over, however, he felt just the same. Just as alone. The rain had seemingly died down and his body felt warmer but Aesop was deep in the murky waters of his own depression he found it difficult to swim out. His mind and body were shutting down in despair.

Allowing his exhaustion to overcome him, Aesop felt himself slipping over from his kneeling position.

Strangely, instead of hitting what he thought would be a clump of mud, his head fell against something soft. Aesop refused to open his eyes at this point, fearing that opening them would only somehow make things worse. It was how his day was going after all. He lay on the floor, basking in the strange change of environment.

He could still hear rain but he couldn't feel it and he felt relatively comfortable lying where he was. It was an odd situation. Everything seemed so different from a few moments ago. It was as if his mind was suddenly at peace.

A warmth began sweeping over his body like a gentle tide. On instinct, Aesop found himself wriggling towards the warmth. The source of heat wasn't too far away and Aesop found the atmosphere so comfortable that, in his dazed state, he snuggled up to it and pulled it closer to him. The source of heat gave a small moan.

'Aesop…'

Aesop opened a single eye as a soft voice whispered his name. He could hardly see anything. More troubling to Aesop, however, was that the treeline he had expected to see was vanished, replaced by a dark wall of fabric. As these things became apparent, Aesop finally found his senses again. This wasn't where he had lost focus. Where were the trees, the rain, the mud? He was somewhere else now…somehow.

'Weird,' Aesop muttered to himself. Someone giggled as if in agreement. Aesop's eyebrow popped upwards. That laugh sounded eerily familiar. Cautiously, Aesop gently squeezed a part of the strange object his hand had grabbed and a short whimper escaped into the air.

'Oh Aesop, stop teasing me~' a seductive purr called and Aesop froze like a statue. This strange object could speak? And it knew his name?

'What?' he cried out loud. When the thing he had hold of tensed, Aesop quickly realised he had made a terrible mistake. The thing was awake. It squirmed away from him and Aesop was kind enough to oblige, hopping backwards as light flooded the tent from a lamp dial at the corner of the room.

Aesop took in the scene before him with a deep sense of unease resting in his stomach.

Nico Olvia was looking helplessly up at him, her sapphire gaze wide with shock. Her short hair was a mess, as if a gust of wind had just slapped her in the face. Strands of dark green hung limp over one of her eyes. Her lips, a pale beautiful pink, were parted. Her complexion, usually a delightful pale colour, grew darker and darker until her entire face was stained scarlet. She had been sleeping in her black lace underwear. It had obviously been too warm for her to wear her nightie whilst wrapped in the sleeping bag.

Once more, Aesop's mind abandoned him. The question of how he had suddenly appeared in the girl's tent late that night vanished. His usual impulse to apologise or run for his life disappeared. All of Aesop's worries evaporated into nothingness. Suddenly, it was only him standing in a tent staring at the girl of his dreams who by the grace of Oda was wearing as little clothing as possible. It appeared that destiny did believe in justice after all.

'Gorgeous,' Aesop announced as his mind captured what he had seen for all eternity.

Strangely, it was only then when Olvia overcame her shock and finally let out a scream.

Daichi and Kuina burst through the tent flap in a heartbeat, the boy wielding his staff and Kuina unsheathing her blade. Either they had been waiting outside of the door or they were a lot faster than Aesop had first guessed.

'Sis, what's…' Kuina began, but the question faded from her mouth as she spotted Aesop. The blonde looked just as confused as she was.

'I didn't…' he began, only for Olvia's voice to drown his out.

'You pervert!' Her disgusted tone sent chills through Aesop's body. Olvia was staring at him in shock, her arms wrapped around her chest to shield her body.

'Olvia, I'm not. I just…I'm so sorry. I don't know how…'

'Aesop,' Kuina yelled, placing her hands on her hips. Her expression seemed a mix between genuine surprise and a playful expression. Clearly, she was not as offended by Aesop's peeking as her sister was. 'I'm surprised at you!'

'Me too,' Daichi shouted, poking Aesop's chest as he pouted. 'You didn't bring any firewood!'

'I thought if anyone would respect a woman's privacy, it would be you,' Olvia continued, glaring at him.

'This isn't how it…' Aesop tried to explain but Kuina interrupted him.

'Shameful Aesop.' Kuina seemed to be enjoying this situation far too much.

'I'll say. That poor wood is all alone out there in the cold, waiting to be thrown into a warming inferno.' Aesop ignored his friend and turned once more Olvia.

'Look, I can explain. I didn't mean to…'

'Just get out,' Olvia said, casting her gaze away from Aesop. Despite how irritated she seemed to be by her actions, her cheeks glowed a bright red.

'Yes, leave us you wood abandoner!' Daichi announced, pointing to the tent door.

'I was talking to you too,' Olvia explained, moving her glare towards the dark haired boy. Daichi paled.

'Me! But I didn't…'

'Boys. Out. Now,' Kuina yelled, prodding Daichi each time she spoke. Daichi took the initiative in the situation, grabbing hold of Aesop and dragging him out of the tent with a depressed groan. Aesop found he couldn't react. He was far too stunned to say another word. Things were happening so fast.

The rain, mercifully, was beginning to fade as the two boys left the tent. The instant they were outside their own tent on the other side of the camp, Aesop's weak knees finally gave way and he fell into a kneeling position. Things had gotten so confusing so suddenly. First, he was cold and alone…then he was cuddling up with Olvia in her tent? What the hell had happened?

As his friend fumed silently, Daichi said nothing. Instead, he merely stood alongside him, staring out into the dark night. A peaceful silence lingered between the two only disturbed by the occasional gust of wind. Aesop turned to Daichi. Daichi looked back at him. The two stared at one another.

'So…' Daichi muttered at last. 'You didn't find any firewood, did you?' Aesop's glare was all the answer he needed. 'Just checking…'

'I fucked up again,' Aesop commented, turning to face the ground. Daichi's brow furrowed.

'What do you mean again?'

'I just…can't do anything right. I dropped all the firewood I collected and now I've got Olvia mad at me.'

'Nah, Liv's not mad, she just got embarrassed that you saw her like that,' Daichi reassured him. Aesop raised an eyebrow at this. Olvia being embarrassed? He'd never thought about her as someone who could get embarrassed. 'And sure, forgetting to collect firewood is a serious offense punishable by death…but I think we can let it slide just this once.'

'Gee, thanks,' Aesop muttered, casting his friend a glare. He honestly had no idea whether his best friend was joking about the firewood or not anymore.

'Look, I'm just trying to say things aren't as bad as you think,' Daichi said. 'You're always so negative about yourself that you keep missing everything good you've done.'

'Like?' Aesop mumbled.

'You're alive, aren't you?' The long nosed boy let out a sigh.

'Not much of an achievement there…'

'You can cook better than I can!' Daichi persisted. Aesop fell silent. That was true. 'And just now, you were in Olvia's tent right?' And suddenly, Aesop was feeling down again.

'Yeah?' he spat bitterly.

'Well, that means you managed to sneak me and Kuina out here and get in there. I don't know how you did it but getting past my eagle eyed girlfriend, now that takes skill Aesop.' Aesop felt colour rush to his cheeks and a small smile come to his lips as Daichi spoke, his glum mood forgotten at the compliment.

'Skill? You think?'

'Of course! I always had you pegged as the thief on our crew,' Daichi announced with a smirk. Aesop gaped. A thief? Him? 'I mean, you're smart, sneaky and if you worked at it, I'm sure you could bluff your way out of anything.' Aesop gave an honest smile. Praise from Daichi, in his mind, was high praise indeed. The black haired teen generally looked excited by Aesop's sneaking prowess.

'So next time you say you've messed up bud, you better think again,' Daichi concluded, smacking his right fist into his left hand. 'Or else I'll have to kick your ass.' Aesop felt a large bead of sweat trail down his forehead.

'You know, the uplifting speech was going really well before you threatened to beat me up.'

'It needed my own little signature,' Daichi joked, slapping Aesop hard on the back. 'Now lighten up bud and remember, you're not worthless. You're my nakama, got that?' Aesop nodded, massaging his neck from the strong smack his friend had delivered.

'Got it,' he responded.

'Good, so chin up,' Daichi encouraged. 'I'm going to go see how the girls are doing.' Aesop hung his head once more.

'Tell them I'm…'

'I think Olvia knows you didn't mean to sneak in and perv on her like that, she was just a little shocked is all,' Daichi confirmed with his usual smirk. 'You just get into our tent and get some sleep. We'll sort it all out in the morning when everyone has stopped freaking out.'

Aesop took this advice in his stride and willingly marched into the boy's tent. It had been a long day and an eventful night. He still had no idea how he had come to appear in Olvia's tent but right now, he just desperately wanted to rest. He flopped down onto his sleeping bag. He didn't even have the energy to change into his pyjamas at this point. Sleep was the only option.

Never the less, he did feel slightly warm. Whereas the outside air was cool and frigid, the tents were like an oven. Wriggling out of his shirt and pants, Aesop flung himself into the safety of his sleeping bag and huddled close to the wall before closing his eyes. His efforts to get to sleep were disturbed however as Daichi's inquisitive head suddenly popped into existence through the tent door.

'Seriously though, you are going to have to tell me how you managed to get into Oliva's tent. You moved so silently, it was almost like you were using a devil fruit ability.'

Aesop froze as Daichi disappeared once more. The gears in his mind stopped for an instant before whirring once more in an effort to consider what Daichi had said. Aesop flicked up out of bed, staring at the door where Daichi had once been.

There was no way that…the swirly fruit…and then he had appeared in Olvia's tent when he had thought he had wanted to be with his friends. It all clicked together in his brain in a single moment. How had he not realised that before? His moping must have really blinded him to the obvious truth. Aesop looked at his hands and grinned.

He had eaten a devil fruit that gave him the ability to teleport…somehow. Aesop was unsure how to control his new power but the fact he had such a unique ability made him smile.

'Wait until I tell everyone,' he thought with a laugh.

…Or this could just be his little secret.

Aesop closed his eyes to consider this possibility.

No-one else had to know about him eating a devil fruit. Besides, he wasn't even sure how to control his new skill yet or what the limitations of it were. Perhaps he was being a bit hasty in assuming he should tell everyone. He smirked. The more he thought about it, the more the option appealed to him.

He was the crew's thief after all and what thief revealed the tools of their trade so willingly to others? He was only staying in character by not telling anyone. It wasn't that he didn't want anyone to know what he was capable of…but having something up his sleeve made Aesop feel amazing. He nodded as he made his choice.

Everyone could find out about his powers in their own time. Until then, the power was his to explore and use as he saw fit. Aesop opened his eyes and smiled. The smile disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.

Olvia was standing in the doorway watching him. Wisely, the Roronoa sister had dressed herself in a light purple dressing gown but she was still glaring at him. Aesop stared back at her.

'Olvia!' Aesop gasped, springing up out of his sleeping bag. Olvia's cheeks darkened as he rose up, but something in her eyes told Aesop she meant business. For a moment, Aesop wondered if she was going to hit him. The fire in her eyes showed a determination he had not seen matched in anyone else before. It was then when she caught him completely off-guard by smiling.

'Nice outfit,' she said. Aesop's brow snapped to attention as he suddenly realised that he was currently wearing nothing but his underwear. Before he could shield himself, Olvia plucked a camera from behind her back and took three quick snapshots.

'There,' she said with a satisfied smirk. 'Now we're even.' Eventually prying her eyes away from Aesop's chest, she looked up at his face and winked, gesturing to her body with her free hand. 'You know if you wanted to have look, you just had to ask.'

And then she was gone, leaving behind a confused and blushing Aesop sitting inside his tent. Once more, Aesop felt his mind shutting down. His new devil fruit powers meant nothing compared to what Olvia had just said. Steam was coming out of his ears and he felt blood rushing to his nose…and a lower part of his body as well.

'You know if you wanted to have a look, you just had to ask.' The voice rang in his head, seductively tickling his brain. For a moment, he stood still in awe. Then, a large smirk came over his face.

'I might take you up on that sometime,' he muttered. Realising what he just said, Aesop clamped a hand over his mouth. Was he…just trying to flirt back with Olvia? He NEVER flirted! As Aesop fell backwards onto his sleeping bag, a confused but content smile gracing his lips, a single question came to mind.

Was it just him or did he suddenly feel a lot bolder?

* * *

><p><em><strong>Omake: F is for Fragile<strong>_

Luffy paused. He couldn't help but stare at the bundle Nami was holding in her arms. Amongst the white cloths lay a red face with a small clump of black hair plastered on his head. The baby had large ears and a slim nose from which snot was currently hanging from. Luffy felt tears well up in his eyes. He was perfect. He was his; his little baby boy. Nami slowly looked up at her husband, her own eyes clouded with tears as she smiled at him.

'Daichi, this is your daddy,' she called softly. The baby was silent in its sleep but his wispy eyebrows rose as if to show he was listening to his mother's soothing voice. Luffy chuckled quietly as the child's mouth flopped open and a strand of drool clung to the bottom lip. He looked so peaceful. One thing Luffy had not expected was how small Daichi would look. He knew babies were small (when Zoro had first showed Nami and him Oliva, she hadn't been a giant) but Daichi looked incredibly tiny. The largest thing about him was his cute pudgy cheeks.

'Come here Luffy, come take a look'

'I'm fine here' Nami raised an eyebrow at her husband's words.

'Luffy, it's your son.'

'I know,' Luffy muttered, smiling widely at the baby. Simply seeing the long awaited child resting in the arms of the woman he loved made him feel absolutely ecstatic…

But…

'Then why don't you want to come over for a closer look?' Luffy didn't reply. He stood where he was for a few seconds, before carefully stepping forwards. It was as if the floor was made of ice. The pirate king moved cautiously to his wife's side but even then, maintained a distance from her and the baby. Nami's eyebrow raised once more.

'…Do you want to hold him or something?'

'NO!' Luffy shouted, almost too loud as Daichi threatened to stir from his slumber. Instantly, however, Nami bowed her head towards the little boy and softly cooed kind words into his ear. With that, Daichi fell asleep once more and Nami looked upwards to glare at Luffy.  
>'Why not?'<p>

'Nami…I'd just feel better if…you held him…' Luffy mumbled, staring down at the beautiful baby. His wife immediately sensed the unease within the rubber man.

'What's wrong Luffy?'  
>'Nothing…' Luffy commented. Nami frowned as she recognised the familiar expression of uncertainty on the pirate king's face.<p>

'Luffy,' she muttered with a glare. Luffy glanced over at the baby in Nami's arms, before sighing quietly.

'…'  
>'What?' Nami asked, leaning in closer when Luffy's voice failed to rise above merely a whisper.<p>

'I…I don't want to hurt him…' Luffy finally said, looking away from his baby son. He didn't expect Nami to laugh at this. Daichi's eyes flew open and the child let out a shriek at the sudden noise. Nami quickly recovered from her laughter and rubbed her nose against the little boy's forehead. Daichi fell silent at his mother's touch and gazed up at her, eyes full of curiosity. Nami smiled down at him, before turning to the boy's father with an amused expression.

'Really? That's why you don't want to hold him?'

'You need to hold him,' Luffy replied. 'Everyone's always telling me I'm not very good with my hands and he's so small. I don't want to drop him.' Nami felt a twinge of guilt at his words.

'Luffy, this isn't cooking or cartography. This is holding your son. You'll do just fine. Come on, I'll show you how to hold him.'

'But I might break him,' Luffy insisted, despite shuffling closer. Nami could see the burning desire the man had to be with his son trapped amongst the fear in his eyes.

'Okay, you put your arms like…yeah, like I have. Good Luffy good.'

As the pirate king adopted the same holding stance as Nami, she placed the small boy into his arms. The baby gurgled at being moved, whilst Luffy squirmed as Daichi shifted about in his grasp.

'…He's…so tiny…'

'Comes with the role of being a baby moron,' Nami teased, still smiling uncontrollably at her husband. Luffy looked far less comfortable with the situation and looked at the small child in his arms. He wriggled around until the baby was settled comfortably. Luffy looked at Daichi. Daichi looked at Luffy. Suddenly, he smiled, flashing his toothless mouth to the world.

'Ah!' Daichi called. Luffy couldn't help but smile back.

'Hello there buddy,' he whispered, crying softly. 'I'm your daddy.' Daichi gurgled happily in reply. Luffy looked up at his wife and smiled.

'He's beautiful just like his mother,' he said with a grin.

'And he's a loudmouth like his father,' Nami observed as Daichi continued to squeak and gurgle happily. 'I love you.'

'And I love you too,' Luffy said, leaning in to kiss his wife gently on the lips. As Daichi began to gurgle, Nami planted a kiss on his forehead.

'And we both love you too Dai,' she said with a chuckle. Luffy nodded in agreement and looked down at his family's new arrival, ready for whatever adventure would come next.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Yeah, as I said before, F has a lot of letters so I had a lot of wriggle room with what I wanted to write for this. I actually feel I did too much here…but I think it came out nice too so I'll let you be the judge of that.<strong>_

_**Anyway, until next time I'm Shadowonthewall6 and I hope you all enjoyed this latest one-shot.**_

_**Please review. Positive criticism is welcome.**_


	7. G

_**Well, I did say in the last chapter I was working on G at the same time as E and F but I didn't expect it to be up after only a few days (man, when I get in the updating mood I really do spoil you guys :P)**_

_**And a quick warning: don't expect another one-shot to come up as fast as the last two. Where as the concepts behind E, F and G came easy, I have no plans for H, I, etc. So it might be another long wait...**_

_**In the mean time, I hope you all enjoy this one-shot :)**_

* * *

><p><em><strong>G is for Greetings.<strong>_

Monkey D. Dragon was a revolutionary leader. He had overthrown a government and was building the marines back from the ground up to be more heavily focused on moral justice. He was a politician of amazing skill and flexible aims, willing to compromise and argue about issues which he cared about on a whim. Not only that, but he was extremely charismatic.

In a matter of months since the 'Great Revolution', he had won over the support of most of the world. He had worked to bring down the world nobles and free their slaves and wives, whilst charging the celestial dragons for their crimes. He was a force of true justice, not a mere mockery of the law that Akainu's administration had been. He was respected and admired by many all around the world…

And yet, even he had no idea what he was supposed to say.

He wasn't even sure why he had bothered coming on this day. After all, he didn't even really know the boy, despite what he was to him. For the first time in his life, Dragon felt well and truly nervous.

'Lord Dragon, are you feeling alright?' The revolutionary leader…the new leader of the marines (he had to remind himself of that title countless times) turned around to look over at his comrade. As usual, Ivankov was dressed as flamboyantly as humanly possible. He was decorated in a long bright pink leotard which was partly covered up by a bold red cape.

His huge head bobbed along as they walked and his hair remained as crazy as Dragon had remembered it being on their first encounter. His oldest friend, one of his only ones still left in the world, had travelled with him to this island in the middle of nowhere to support him in his latest endeavour.

'I am…fine. I suppose…' he admitted. Ivankov beamed widely him, before elbowing his arm with a chuckle.

'You don't need to be so nervous,' the cross-dresser reassured him. 'I'm sure Straw-hat boy will be happy to see his…' Dragon held up his hand and immediately, Ivankov fell silent. His leader didn't want to talk about his past relationship with Luffy. It had been, at best, distant and at worst, complete abandonment. Never the less, Dragon still loved his son. He doubted the boy felt the same. It had been so long since they had last seen each other.

Closing his eyes, Dragon's mind drifted back to the day his son, Monkey D. Luffy had become king of the pirates. Through fire and smoke, they had seen one another, standing on ships opposite one another. Not a single word had been exchanged. A glance summed up what could be sprawled on a book for hours. The message was so clear, words were unnecessary.

'I am proud of you.'

And Dragon was. His son had accomplished his dream. What more could a father have asked for? The problem was that after this brief moment of clarity between father and son, Dragon had set about reconstructing the marines. The world was always his main priority and once more, his family responsibilities fell to the wayside. The result was this: showing up unannounced on an important date just for the hope of salvaging some sort of attachment.

Dragon sighed.

A great leader he was but as a father, he was a failure.

'Are you ready?' Ivankov asked. Dragon already had his answer.

'No…but if I don't do it now, I never will.' Ivankov nodded in agreement.

'Consider it your next big adventure Lord Dragon.' Dragon gave a smile himself at that one. He did love adventures. With a sigh, Dragon began to walk forwards. Ivankov followed close behind. Dragon's stride was slow and each footstep was careful and deliberate. Dread lingered in each step. He was wondering whether he should have bothered coming at all.

Never the less, Dragon soldiered on, his posture calm and determined, despite the small beads of sweat trailing down his intricate red tattoo. All too soon, Dragon found himself standing in front of a bright white door. At first, Dragon didn't move. He merely stared at the door, hoping it would open on its own or that, by some magic, he would finally wake up from this looming nightmare.

Sadly, that moment did not come and Ivankov took the initiative, tapping a catchy tune happily onto the door.

'Binks' Sake?' Dragon mumbled.

'I've always been one for the classics,' Ivankov replied. The two were not waiting long when an odd giggling crept out from behind the door. A disappointed grunt accompanied the giggle.

'Never get any damn privacy.'

'Well what do you expect; it is your little brother and sister's birthday.'

'Yeah…but I thought all the guests were already here.'

'Maybe your dad told Bon Clay or Coby about the party.'

'Coby's on the other side of the world dealing with some slaver pirates and I doubt Uncle Bon would be late to a party. That's not his style.'

'…Are you going to answer it then or are you just going to keep staring at me?'

'…'

'Well?'

'I'm thinking!'

'Daichi!'

'Fine…I'll open the…' The conversation on the other side of the door descended into quiet mumblings which Dragon was contained more than one curse word. Suddenly, Dragon realised exactly what was happening and he felt a large lump appear in his throat. What was he going to say? What should he…

There was a loud click.

Dragon twitched.

The door finally opened.

'Hell…o…' a young black haired boy stood behind the door. His voice died in his throat as he stared at Dragon. The elder man returned the stare. Currently, the spitting image of a teenage version of his son was standing in the doorway. The boy's mouth hung low and his jaw flapped in the breeze as he gaped at the stranger. Dragon felt as though he had been punched in the gut.

'Daichi, is everything okay out there?' a voice called, as a green haired girl popped out from round the corner. Upon seeing Dragon, she too froze. 'Oh…'

'…Hello…' Dragon began, finally recovering from the shock of seeing a younger version of his son. He had finally noticed some obvious differences in the boy's face. This was not his son…this was something much much worse.

Monkey D. Dragon was staring down his own grandson.

Daichi looked at Dragon.

Dragon looked back.

The two blinked.

Slowly, Daichi raised his finger and pointed at him.

'Are you…'

'Yes,' Dragon interrupted, knowing what the question would be.

'…That means I'm…'

'Yes,' Dragon repeated. For a moment, Daichi was silent. He looked at Dragon's chest. Then, he looked down at the man's shoes before shifting his gaze back up to his tattooed face. A few seconds of silence passed. They were the longest seconds of Monkey D. Dragon's life.

Suddenly, Daichi stepped away from the door, holding it wide open. Dragon raised an eyebrow.

'Well, are you coming in then? Or not?' the boy finally asked. Dragon was taken aback at the statement.

'I…'

'Yes, thank you my boy!' Ivankov yelled, injecting himself with some hormones in order to shrink his head to a size where it could fit through the door. Kuina jumped as the bizarre man pushed past Dragon and skipped his way merrily into the house.

'How the heck did you do that!?' she yelled, her hand grasping for her new sword, the Mistuno No Ken, on impulse. Ivankov's face turned a pale green at her words.

'Oh no…my head has shrunk…I…think…I'm dying...'

'What!?' Kuina and Daichi cried. Ivankov's tiny head nodded, as his hand reached up to grab at his hair.

'My face…my face…so small…I'm…going to…going to…' Kuina and Daichi leaned in towards Ivankov to listen into what he was saying as his voice grew quiet. Dragon rolled his eyes.

'3, 2, 1,' he muttered under his breath.

'NOT DIE! HEE HAW!' Ivankov announced, springing back up and striking a pose, before smacking the wall with his fist as he chortled. 'I'm not going to die, HEE HAW! I'm a devil fruit user is all, HEE HAW! You sure had me there, HEE HAW!'  
>'Ah, he so fooled you!' Daichi declared with a laugh, pointing to his girlfriend. Kuina was quick to smack his hand away.<p>

'Fool me? What about you? He fooled you too!'

'He was a good actor, at least I admit he fooled me,' Daichi mumbled, rubbing the back of his head as he laughed. Kuina sighed.

'You are definitely your father's son.'

'Who is also HIS son so that means you're the one to blame for all this Gramps,' Daichi joked with a wink. Dragon was speechless. The boy barely knew him and yet he was toying with him as if he saw him every weekend. It made him feel uneasy...and yet Dragon breathed a sigh of relief. It felt good to be accepted so readily, if informally, by a new member of his family.

The tension smashed instantly and for the first time since he arrived on Commi Island, Dragon smiled.

Unfortunately, his small speck joy was instantly torn apart.

'Daichi! Kuina! We're about to sing happy birthday now!' the sweet and calm voice of Nico Robin floated through the house.

'Yeah, get your butts out here,' another voice, this one as sharp as swords, bellowed from outside. Daichi groaned but still turned to Dragon with a small grin.

'Looks like you arrived just in time. You wanna join in?'

'I'm not much of a singer,' Dragon muttered in reply, his throaty voice confirming that it was indeed the case.

'Poppycock!' Ivankov bellowed. 'We've come here to see your family! What better way to bond with them to sing in glorious chorus!?'

'Yeah, the weirdo is right,' Daichi agreed. 'Come on and join in the fun Gramps. I'm sure the whole family would want to see you.'

'See, Dai-boy knows what he's talking about,' Ivankov said, strangely missing himself being called a 'weirdo'. Dragon did not look so convinced. For a moment, he remained morose and stern but unfortunately, he could not keep this at bay for much longer. Finally, he forced a smile.

'I guess it couldn't hurt,' he acknowledged, entering the house and subsequently following after his grandson.

* * *

><p>Apparently, the guests outside had not been as patient as Dragon had thought, considering that as he passed into the garden at the back of the house, he could hear the sound of the party guests bursting into song. Oddly, there appeared to be two groups of singers: one on the left comprised of the better singers in the group, whilst the more boisterous singers added their own part to the song before both fractions joined together to sing the final lines. This resulted in a mishmash of a melody that sounded a little something like this.<p>

'~Happy birthday Chika~' the first group would softly sing.  
>'~AND HARU!~' the second group on the left would add with a loud shout.<p>

'Happy birthday Haru~'

'~AND CHIKA~'

'~Happy birthday Chika AND Haru!~'  
>'~Happy birthday to you~'<p>

'KAMPAI!' the crew called together and the group burst into applause. Glasses clinked and one particular green haired swordsman downed a whole bottle of sake in one go. Dragon took in the bizarre scene in front of him with wide eyes. He had never been one for parties but this party seemed insane. Not as bad as a party with Ivankov and his people, Dragon noted, but definitely still strange.

The straw-hat pirates were all crowded around a small table and the noise they were producing was almost deafening. A skeleton with an afro was still singing 'happy birthday' as he strummed an electric guitar. The guitar was attached to a large blue haired cyborg whose shoulders had morphed into two large speakers. The rest of the individuals were cheering and laughing as they swarmed around the birthday boy and girl.

At the centre of this chaotic party was a small boy with light orange hair and a young girl with raven hair in pigtails. Both were sitting at the table topped with a massive cake smiling.

'Come on you two, blow out the candles!' a beautiful woman with long flowing orange hair, whom Dragon presumed to be their mother, encouraged.

'Yeah,' a familiar face added, looping an arm around the mother's waist and chuckling to himself. 'The sooner you blow them out, the sooner…we…can…' He stopped. The instant their captain fell silent, the rest of the party followed suit.

Luffy had spotted his father.

Dragon, unsure of what to say, raised a hand in greeting but this failed to break the silence. Slowly, the straw-hat captain moved away from his wife and children and made his way forwards towards…the stranger.

'That's what I am really,' Dragon realised. This boy who bore his name and carried his blood had no idea who he really was. As Luffy moved, the orange haired woman seemed to move to follow him but was held back by the man with green hair who gripped her shoulder. Luffy's other crewmates parted as he stepped through, walking steadily towards the intruder on his children's birthday.

Ivankov had gratefully stepped to one side, as had Daichi and Kuina, allowing Luffy to walk straight towards him and giving the two the smallest moment of privacy. Luffy's expression betrayed no hint of emotion and his eyes were cold and glassy. Dragon met Luffy with the same stare. Everyone watched the two in their staring competition. Dragon blinked first.

'I…' he began but was cut off as his son stepped forwards. Before Dragon knew it, he was being held in a tight hug. For a moment, Dragon was unsure how to respond. It had been so long since he'd held someone close to him and he felt that the action pointless.

Never the less, he lifted a single hand up and clamped it firmly on Luffy's shoulder. He closed his eyes tightly and revelled in the feel of his son holding him. Something so strange suddenly felt so naturally. Dragon opened his eyes as he felt his son spring backwards, grinning ear to ear.

'You're late Dad,' Luffy finally said. Dragon barely bit back the tears as he smiled back, the same smirk on his lips that was on his son's.

'Better late than never Son.'

* * *

><p><em><strong>And G is for Grandpa.<strong>_

Joy was written across Luffy's face. He was smiling so much that if his skin weren't made of rubber, his cheeks would surely be aching by now. The pirate king was sitting across from the party now. As much as he loved running around and jumping and laughing with everyone else just for one moment, the straw-hat captain felt like he just wanted to sit back and take in the amazing sight before him.

His family of ragtag misfits and brilliant comrades had gained a new member. Granted, it was a member that should have been there all along but he couldn't help but grin regardless.

Brook, as always, was providing musical accompaniment for the party, playing some dancing music on his violin. Franky was up in the centre of the garden grooving to the music, striking poses and gyrating his cyborg body and competing in a "funk off" against the cross-dressing king. So far, Ivankov's flexibility was paying off in their dance match. Sanji whipped past the cyborg as he was dancing with his own wife, swooning all the while much to the blue haired woman's laughter. The couple swung their way past Chopper, who was swaying this way and that in his own bizarre little dance. Usopp and Kaya were dancing as well.

On the opposite side of the garden, watching to the barbeque feast cook which the chef had left to attend his wife's every whim, was Aesop. The blonde haired teen was examining each burger with a keen eye before flipping it, patiently watching each one the way a detective examined a crime scene. Slightly stunting his "manly" (or so Aesop put it) cooking skills was the bright pink apron which demanded in bright red letters that everyone "Kiss the Chef".

Sitting nearby, Olvia was engrossed within a book as usual…though her eyes kept darting up towards Aesop as if she wished to obey the message on his chest. Once, Aesop turned around and spotted her staring. Instead of saying a word, however, he merely gestured to the message and winked before turning around and licking his lips.

For the first time he could remember, Luffy could have sworn he saw Olvia's face go a bright red as she buried her face in the safety of her novel. Zoro should have asked her to go and see Chopper about that. He didn't want the girl to have gotten a fever.

Speaking of his first mate, Zoro was napping against a tree, five jugs of booze littered the area around his sleeping form. The pleasant afternoon sun had given him enough reason to fall asleep. Zoro being asleep had also given Kenichi enough reason to steal one of Usopp's markers and begin decorating the swordsman's face into a fine piece of art.

Robin was being far more social than her other half and was currently sitting with Daichi and Kuina. As Luffy's eyes drifted over to the person his son was talking to, he found himself laughing.

Monkey D. Dragon claimed he wasn't exactly the most social of people when Luffy asked if he had wanted to stay the night. Seeing Haru happily bouncing on his knee and Chika sat on his shoulders giggling and clapping, Luffy couldn't understand what his father had seemed so worried about. He seemed like he was a natural with children despite his rather solemn disposition.

A pair of slender arms wrapping around his waist snapped Luffy out of his thoughts.

'What's wrong?' the loving voice of his wife asked. In response, Luffy spun around and planted a gentle kiss on her lips.

'Nothing at all,' he said as he planted his forehead next to hers. Nami smiled back at him.

'I'm glad you're okay.'

'Nami, I've got my dad and you guys here. I'm better than okay,' Luffy replied with a laugh. 'Turns out he's a really nice guy.'

'The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.'

'And this apple is happy he found his orange.'

'You know for an idiot, you say the sweetest things,' his wife murmured with a smirk, her lips brushing close to his in a teasing manner. Luffy laughed at her comment. The two leaned closer together…

'So Gramps, did you bring us a present?'

'Haru!' Nami called, practically shoving her husband out of the way to glare at her youngest son. 'That is no way to speak to your grandfather! Apologise right now.'

'It's fine Daughter in law,' Dragon spoke up, placing a hand on Haru's head and ruffling it affectionately. 'I didn't actually bring anything with me. I'm sorry.'

'That's okay,' Chika said, cuddling Dragon's head with a giggle. 'I'm glad you brought yourself Grandpa.' Dragon chuckled at the little girl's words.

'Thank you...Grandpa…it feels weird being called that.'

'It feels weird being called Daughter in law,' Nami remarked.

'But weird is a good thing right?' Luffy added, looping an arm around Nami's shoulder and smirking at his dad. Dragon smiled back.

'Yes, it is.'

'You seem a lot bouncier than usual captain,' Robin observed.

'My whole family is here,' Luffy cried, thrusting his fist into the air. 'I'm just really excited to have us all together again.'

'Daddy! You're mean!' Chika declared from atop Dragon's head, giving her father a dark disappointed glare. Luffy's smile transformed into a pout at his daughter's words.

'What do you mean sweetheart?'

'Not everybody's here, you forgot people!' Luffy's eyes widened and he blinked.

'Who?'

'Aunt Nojiko,' Nami commented, poking her husband's shoulder.

'Jimbei,' Daichi added, leaping over to join his mother in poking his father's rubber shoulder.

'Law,' Robin called, blooming a hand on Luffy's arm in order to join in with the poking.

'Them too but there's someone else!' Chika said with a frown. Luffy copied his daughter's expression to the smallest detail.

'Okay, I give up. Who am I forgetting about then?'

The answer suddenly hit him….quite literally.

Luffy had seen it coming. As soon as he had asked the question, his observation haki had flared and his eyes had grown wide. Despite that, he didn't move from his spot. He didn't even bother to protect himself with armament haki. It would just be over quicker if he just let it happen.

'You…mean…' Luffy managed to get out before a fist grabbed hold of his head and smashed it into the floor.

'FIST OF LOVE!~' a gruff voice thundered. Instantly, the party stopped once more as all eyes turned to the new intruder. Nami, who had stepped backwards to make room for the new guest, let out a soft sigh as the dust cleared.

'Hello Garp, how are you doing?' she asked calmly. The past vice admiral gave a loud guffaw as he stood up straight, flashing his trademark smile to the whole party. The party resumed rather quickly. Ever since his retirement, the hero of the marines had been a frequent visitor to their home and had taken upon himself to get to know his grandson's family, now that his term with the marines had ended.

'Not bad at all my dear. I hope this brat has been treating you right.' Chika burst out into a wide toothy smile at the sight of the man with the fluffy white beard and leapt from her grandfather's head, running towards Garp.

'Great-grandpa! I knew daddy had forgotten you!' Garp let out a boisterous laugh as he caught the girl and held her close to his chest.

'My goodness Chika! You grow bigger every year my adorable little seagull.' Chika giggled. Her brothers seemed much less relieved to see their eldest family member.

'Great-gramps!' Daichi and Haru yelled together. The youngest sibling sprang up off of his grandfather's knee and hopped into his brother's protective arms…ignoring the fact that Daichi had attached himself to Kuina and was currently sitting in her lap.

'KUINA! SAVE ME FROM THE EVIL BILLYGOAT!' he begged, pointing towards the old man with a trembling finger.

'Daichi! You're too heavy, get off!' Kuina replied through laughter.

'But you promised to love me through thick and thin…AND THIS IS THE THICK AND THIN PART!'

'PLEASE BIG SIS!' Haru joined in. Even the mighty revolutionary leader seemed to pale under Garp's stare.

'Father!' Dragon squeaked. Everyone turned and stared at him in disbelief. Dragon, world revolutionary and leader of the free world...had just squeaked?

As the old man lifted his head, the males of the Monkey family once more gave a whimper of terror.

'PLEASE DON'T LET HIM TAKE ME ON A WALK LIKE LAST TIME!' Haru pleaded. 'HE'LL THROW ME TO THE CROCODILES AGAIN!'

'At least he didn't tie to you to an anchor and use you as a fishing line for bait,' Daichi murmured.

'He took me for ice cream,' Chika announced from beside her mother. Her smile made Daichi and Haru exchange glares.

'Why did she have to be born so innocent and cute?' the two muttered meekly. Garp smirked as he approached the table, leaving Luffy lying face first in the floor. He cracked his fists.

'Hello boys!~' he called. Daichi and Haru screamed, trying to claw their way out of Kuina's grip. Strangely enough, their grandfather joined them in their retreat.

'I…I thought I was too old to be punished…' Dragon whimpered.

'You may be too old for punishment…' Garp considered, cracking his knuckles. 'But…you're never be too old…FOR MY VIOLENT AFFECTION!' As their great-grandfather moved towards them, with surprising speed and force for his old age, a series of painful cries shattered the air. Kuina and Robin laughed together at the "family bonding", whilst Chika and Nami took upon themselves to tend to Luffy.

'Are you okay down there daddy?' the little girl asked, poking her father with her toe.

'I don't take it back,' his muffled voice emerged from the mud. 'I love my family…' Tensing his body, Luffy kicked hard against the floor and plucked his head out of the mud, flashing the two girls in his life a massive smirk.

'We're weird in a good way…a painful way, but a good way.' He smirked, wiping the dirt from his face before leaping over to the ensuing fight. They was how his family worked after all and this family was one he wouldn't have traded for anything in the world.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Until next time, I'm Shadowonthewall6 and I hope you enjoyed this latest one-shot.<strong>_

_**Please review. Positive criticism is welcome.**_


	8. H

_**And I thought F had a lot of letters. H, by some miracle (or to stick with a H related word, by some happenstance) has a whole lot more, even if some of them are kind of short.**_

_**As I mentioned in the last chapter, I had no idea what to do for this letter, which is why this chapter is dedicated to Foxchika19 who messaged me a list of words beginning with H in order to give me some inspiration, three of which managed to find their way into this chapter.**_

_**As for what these one-shots are about, I think the title of this collection sums that up really nicely. I kept getting ideas here and there about what to do for H and though I had a lot of ideas, none of them really seemed like I could write a whole chapter based around the single word. **_

_**Soon, I just started writing out a different one-shot focused on each member of the Monkey family. That soon fell apart when Haru tried to steal Nami's one-shot away and then Nami crept into Daichi's and...**_

_**And now I'm rambling, so I'll just finish by saying these one-shots are just a series of random ideas and leave you all to read this latest chapter. I hope you all enjoy.**_

* * *

><p><em><strong>H is for Highlights<strong>_

* * *

><p><em><strong>H is for Home<strong>_

There he was again, Nami noticed. He was just standing there on the cliff beside Bellemere's grave, a hand affectionately rubbing the stone. She gave a soft sigh. He was looking east again. It had started often enough that she had started noticing the habit. Slowly, she walked up behind him until they were standing together, staring out at the blank ocean.

'Don't you ever miss it?'

'Miss where?' Luffy asked, not even turning to look at her.

'I never said you missed a place,' Nami replied. Luffy finally turned to her and offered a sheepish grin.

'Can't hide anything from you, can I?'

'You miss your home though don't you? You miss Makino and Woop Slap and Dadan and all of the old faces you used to know.' Luffy paused at the sentence. He said nothing for a moment, before turning to his wife with a smile.

'Home is where the heart is, right?' he questioned in reply, crouching down to press a hand against Nami's swelled stomach. 'And my heart is right here with both of you.'

Ignoring the pull of the east, Luffy looked up at his wife and smiled, thinking of their new home together.

* * *

><p><em><strong>H is for Height<strong>_

'Check again mum! Check it again please!' Nami let out a sigh, turning away from the scripts of paper littering her desk. She should have known writing a novel about her time at sea wasn't going to be easy but it proved to be near impossible in a house that buzzed with such activity as hers.

'Haru, it's only been ten minutes. You won't have grown in that time.'

'But I have to mum!' Haru insisted, clenching his fists and sticking his hands into the air, defiant against the natural laws of the universe. 'Dad and Daichi are really big and if I don't get growing soon, I'll never be as tall as them.' Nami gave her youngest son an odd look, something which Haru could only guess was a state in-between misery and amusement.

'You don't want to be growing up too fast now Haru,' she warned, patting him gently on the head. Haru pushed her hand away and shot her a glare.

'But I want to be bigger! I don't like being a little boy, I want to be an ass kicker like Dad.' Realising his slip of the tongue, Haru suddenly cowered away from his mother, expecting her to hit him for his language. Surprisingly, he didn't feel the weight of his mother's fist pressing down on his head.

Instead, when he opened his eyes again, his mother was crouching in front of him with a smile and sad eyes. Haru was thrown off by the strangeness of the situation.

'You know, there's a problem with that sweetheart,' Nami muttered. The voice was so strained and quiet that Haru had to step closer to properly hear it.

'What?' he asked aloud. Instead of replying, however, his mother merely wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into her lap, tickling her with her demonic fingers. Haru squealed and chuckled as his mother assaulted him, holding him close as she laughed as well.

'No matter how much you'll grow up, you know you'll always be my little baby boy.'

* * *

><p><em><strong>H is for Hand-me-downs<strong>_

'Well, what do you think?'

Daichi found himself unable to voice his thoughts as he stared at the odd item in his hand. The staff stared up at him with non-existent eyes. It was a long red pole of shaped wood. Daichi's brow furrowed.

'What the heck is this?' he asked.

'Well, you said you wanted to be a pirate when you grew up, right? I'm not going to let my son go out into the world unprotected,' Nami replied with a smile. 'That's why I had Usopp make this for you.'

'Oh, cool…' Daichi mumbled. So that must have been why his mum had taken him outside for his birthday present. Daichi grasped the long staff in both hands, running his palm along the surface. It was smooth, so smooth that his hands easily slid along it without any effort.

A pair of golden rings poked out several inches each side from the centre, which Daichi guessed was an indication on where he should hold the staff.

'It used to be my old staff,' Nami explained, watching her son analysing his present. 'Back when I was a thief and before I met your dad. I asked Usopp to have a look at it and develop something more…suiting to your style.'

'That's why you added the sharp pointy things on the end?' Daichi quipped, inspecting the tips of the wooden shaft where four spiked prongs jutted out, flanking a sharp blade on each side.

'Yes and made it curved so you could hold it better…but also why I had Usopp make a few modifications as well,' Nami continued stepping alongside her son and gesturing to the various buttons hidden on the centre of the staff. 'That button there separates the left half of the staff and there are special dials here and here that give the staff more reach. If you want, you can even withdraw the spikes with that button there.'

Daichi stared at the staff, baffled by his mother's explanation of all of the staff's options.

'This is amazing,' he mumbled, twirling the staff around in his hands. 'What else can it do?'

'Usopp usually puts some surprises in with his work. You'll have to test it out yourself though and train hard.' Daichi nodded, before casting his mother an odd look.

'This is weird,' he acknowledged. Nami frowned.

'How come?'

'Usually you're the one telling me that I shouldn't try getting into fights and that I should stop causing trouble and try and find another way to solve problems,' Daichi explained. Nami gave her son a long hard look before smiling at him.

'You're not a boy anymore Daichi,' she said, her voice brimming with pride. 'You'll always be MY boy, but you're getting older and that means that I need to give you added responsibility. I might not like the idea of you living the life that your father and I lived when we were younger…but a love of the sea is in your blood…so in that case, I want you to be properly able to protect yourself. Your dad's going to teach you the basics of haki…though I'm not sure if you've got the king's disposition, the other stuff should be useful.'

'The kings disposition?' Daichi repeated in a confused tone. Nami shook her head.

'You'll learn but it doesn't matter right now. The point is you need to be ready for anything out there and I would hate myself if you didn't have the skills to survive out there,' she finished, looking up at her son and nodding in a matter of fact manner.

Daichi could only blink mindlessly, taking in his mother's confusing words.

'So…you're saying I CAN cause trouble…but only if I know how to cause trouble effectively?' he asked. Nami sighed.

Of course, she should have known her son would ignore the basic point and twist her words into his own version.

Never the less, she conceded to the boy's definition.

'Sure, let's go with that.' Daichi gawped at her for a moment, before planting one end of his staff on the floor.

'Er…thanks I guess mum,' he muttered, looking to the floor. He kicked a stone, staring straight at the ground. Nami observed him pensively.

'What's wrong?' she finally asked, spotting the.

'I'm supposed the big brother of the family,' Daichi started nervously. 'And I want to learn to fight to protect my little brother and sister and I think I've come really far and I've really grown up. I mean, you just said yourself that I'm old enough to learn how to fight properly in your eyes…and I'm kind of disappointed for wanting to be a bit childish right now…'

'Being a bit childish?' Nami asked in confusion. Daichi nodded with a red face.

'I…I wanted to give you a "thank you hug".' Daichi tensed after speaking, shutting his eyes in embarrassment. He hadn't expected his mother to start laughing.

'Seriously? That's all that's wrong?' Nami asked with a sweet smile.

'HEY! IT'S NOT FUNNY!' Daichi replied, folding his arms and glaring at his mother. 'I'm a man and I won't be laughed at like…'

'Come here idiot,' Nami interrupted. Daichi stopped speaking as she opened his arms wide, smiling straight at him. Under his mother's gaze, Daichi suddenly no longer felt like the fourteen year old pirate prince, heir to a legacy of power and dreams…and instead, he was a little boy again, looking to his mummy for guidance.

On instinct, Daichi dropped the staff on the floor and dashed straight into his mother's waiting arms. As her warmth enveloped him, the young boy felt a smile come to his lips.

'Definitely your father's son, always getting an odd perspective on everything,' she muttered into his hair. 'You're never too old for a hug you know? I'll be expecting hugs like this from you when you've got children of your own. I'm your mother after all and I always will be.'

Daichi listened carefully to Nami's words, smiling at the soothing tone in her voice. A part of him bubbled in anger at being immature…but another part felt content.

Doomed to always have hugs from his mother even when he was a man? Somehow, Daichi concluded he could endure that.

* * *

><p><em><strong>H is for Hero<strong>_

In a matter of moments, her day had gone from bad to worse.

Her daddy and mummy had met an old friend they hadn't seen in a long while and they told here to go play in the park. She hadn't really wanted to. They were new in Orange Town, after all and she had never really associated with children her own age before.

Never the less, with an encouraging squeeze of the shoulder by her father, she had wandered off and had actually found something to do which she liked. At the corner of the park, there was a rocking sea-horse which anyone could simply sit on ride.

Retreating to this odd attraction, she discovered that the surface world was more fun than she had originally guessed it was going to be. She actually let out a laugh as she rocked back and forth.

Her happiness soon vanished, however, when someone stuck out their foot and stopped her happy rocking.

'Aw, would you look at that? An intruder!' a voice called mockingly. Looking up from her sea-horse, the girl with the black hair trembled as she regarded the three boys towering above her with her lime-green gaze.

One of the boys had sickly yellow skin and two antenna sticking out of his head, whilst on his back was a large shell. Another boy was big with dark brown spotted skin and bloated lips. He was too fat for his own good. The one in the middle wore a pair of tinted goggles. His hair was a bright blue and his skin was crimson. Black patches decorated his face and body at odd places.

She timidly shrunk away from them. New people always frightened her.

'This park is property of the New New New New New Fishman pirates!' the red skinned boy in the middle announced, sneering at her. 'You're trespassing!'

'Yeah, what are you doing here human?' the hermit crab mer-man inquired, his pincers snapping near her leg as he poked her shoulder with a stick.

'Blub!' the obese puffer fish-boy concluded, joining his friends in their glaring. She gave an uncertain groan under her breath. These boys seemed mean. She didn't understand why. They looked the same way her daddy did and he wasn't mean.

'T-this p-park is f-for e-everyone,' the girl mumbled. The boy with the red skin plucked his ear and faced it towards her.

'What was that human? We can't hear you!' She was shaking now. The sea-horse jolted with her, trembling in place as if it shared her fear. Plucking up what little courage she had, she opened her mouth once more.

'I s-said t-this p-park is f-f-for…'

'What's with your eyes?' the hermit crab interrupted, placing his grimy fingers on her face and pulling her eyes open.

'And it's the middle of summer, what are you wearing that scarf for? Charybdis, take it off her!' As the bloated fish-boy reached for her beloved bright blue scarf, the dark haired girl squealed and moved to escape his grasp.

'G-get o-off!' she demanded in a soft tone but by then, the damage was done. Thanks to the Hermit Crab poking her face and the puffer fish-boy's intervention, she lost her balance and tumbled backwards off the rocking sea-horse.

Luckily, the grass was soft as she landed.

Unluckily, however, as she fell, her scarf became loose and flopped to the floor beside her in a heap, revealing her neck and the gaping holes that came with it.

The three boys fell silent. She didn't need to see their shocked faces to know she was in even more trouble.

'Wh-what the hell are those things?' Her hands rose up to her neck and she whimpered as the hermit crab mer-boy began to poke at her neck with his stick.

'D-don't,' she insisted, scurrying as quickly as she could away from them.

'They look like gills!'

'BLUB!~' the puffer fish-boy bellowed, pointing an accusing finger at her. Quickly, the black haired girl scrambled backwards but by now, the Hermit Crab had circled around her and the puffer fish, Charybdis she thought his name was, was advancing from the other side with the other boy.

'Hey, Scylla's right!' the red-skinned boy yelled, gnashing his large teeth together. His smile had disappeared to be replaced a toothy grimace. 'She's part fish-man!'

'P-p-please I d-don't w-w-want to b-be any t-t-trouble,' she whimpered, trying to get herself up off the floor. As she moved, however, the red skinned boy slammed his foot onto her back, pushing her back down.

'Trouble's what you got freak,' he spat, before kicking the poor girl in her side. She let out a whimper and tried to roll away from the next strike but the fish-boy stayed with her. Worse than that, the other fish-boys started cheering him on.

'Alright Garell! Show that freak a thing or two!'

'Blub!'

'You know what I hate more than humans?' the fish-boy Garell asked, resting his dirt covered foot on top of her head. 'Filthy half-breeds like you…' The boy gnashed his teeth together once more and lifted his foot up into the air. 'You all deserved to be squashed!'

The girl squeaked as she pulled her scarf over her head and clamped her eyes tightly shut.

She lay there, waiting for the last attack.

It never came.

Instead, she heard a large groan and the sound of someone hitting the floor. Voices cried out in a panic.

'OH NO GARELL!'

'BLUB!'

Timidly, she allowed herself to open a single eye. The fish-boys had retreated slightly. Garell was being helped up by his friends, nursing a black eye. Looking upwards, she could just make out the person who had jumped in.

He was a boy too, a human boy. His hair was a bright burnt orange and his eyes gleamed a dark charcoal colour. She couldn't see his face properly from the angle she lay at but she guessed from his voice that he was mad.

'What are you doing picking on her for?' the boy demanded to know.

'Nothing that should matter to you human,' Garell sneered as he pushed himself away from his friends. 'Why don't you get lost?'

'Why don't YOU get FOUND!?'

'That doesn't even make any sense!' Garell shouted, his face growing redder by the second. The boy laughed as the fish-boy's teeth began to crash together. 'Alright,' Garell suddenly began, strolling towards the new boy. 'You asked for it, foolish…'

Before Garell could finish, the orange haired boy's fist lashed out and smashed straight into his face. Garell let out another scream, holding his face.

'Ow! You punched me!'

'Yeah, I thought we were going to fight,' was the reply he received from the human. Garell snarled.

'Well, we are. Give me a…' Once more, the boy punched him in the face.

'Ah! My nose! You broke me nose!' Garell screamed, grabbing his face with both hands.

'Garell!/Blub!' his two fish-boy friends yelled, racing to steady their leader.

'You don't get fighting, do you?' the human boy muttered, scratching his orange hair sheepishly with his hand. Garell glared at him in return.

'That's not fair,' he groaned. 'You didn't play fair.'

'Pirates don't, get used to it,' the boy responded with a laugh.

'Whatever,' the fish-boy growled as he skulked back away from the orange haired boy. 'As soon as I get my nose fixed, you're going to regret this Ginger.' Even as the trio ran away, their words continued to chill the girl to her core. Glancing up at her saviour, she was surprised he was still standing so confident and firm.

'Yeah, you better run!' the boy was yelling, pointing his finger like a gun out at his retreating foes. 'The next time you want to mess with the Prince of Pirates, you better bring some stronger guys.' Her eyes widened at this declaration.

Prince of Pirates? Was he joking? No-one could claim such a title randomly without knowing the connotations of that, could they?

Never the less, the orange haired kid just stood there with the brightest smile in the world on his face. After a while, he turned to look at her.

'Hey, you okay?' She could only stand there gawping at him, blinking like an idiot.

'W-well, y-yeah, I am,' she said in barely a whisper. The boy's nose wrinkled as she spoke.

'You talk weird,' he noted. She hung her head immediately.

'Oh…' Maybe this boy had come to pick on her as well.

'But you don't seem bad,' the boy continued, as if sensing her doubt. A bubble of anxiety popped inside her chest. 'What's your name?'

He held out his hand to help her up off the floor. Curiosity outweighing caution, she took it.

'A-A-Aki,' she stuttered.

'Aki, huh?' the boy tested the name before nodding. 'Well, nice to meet you Aki, I'm Monkey D. Haru but you can simply call me the man who's going to rule the sea!'

As he made this announcement, Haru adopted a bold pose, pointing his finger like a gun at the sky as he grabbed his shoulder. Aki tilted her head to one side and observed his odd ritual with confusion. This boy might not have been as mean as the others, but he certainly was strange. Didn't he know how big the sea was? And he was going to rule all of it?

'R-rule the s-s-sea?' Aki questioned. The boy turned to her and she felt like melting into the floor. She hated it when others paid too much attention to her. It made her deformities seem all the stranger.

As if to humiliate her further, her back twitched as the boy watched her and her small dark blue tad-pole tail poked out from under her dress. Spotting the blue troublemaker, Aki quickly reached for it in an attempt to hide it.

She failed.

The tail was difficult to catch, swishing this way and that and by the time she finally grabbed a hold of it, there was no doubt in her mind that Haru had managed to see it. She shrivelled up as the boy's face changed and...

'AH! THAT'S SO COOL!~' Aki froze. Cool? Had he just said her tail looked cool? Not weird like everyone else had said, not odd like her cousins had often commented. This random boy had told her that her tail looked cool. Her inhumanly pale skin brightened at the thought.

'T-t-thank y-you,' she spluttered. Before she could say a word, Haru was beside her, poking at her tail with interest. As he prodded it with its finger, the tail reacted by slapping him in the face. Aki jumped.

'S-s-sorry!' she whimpered. 'It has a m-m-mind of its own s-sometimes.'

'That's so awesome,' Haru said, completely ignoring the fact that the tail had hit him in the face. 'Can you move it?'

'O-o-occasionally.' Once more Haru poked her tail, though this time he dodged it as it lashed towards him.

'Cool,' he commented. 'I've never seen anything like that.' Aki shrank away from this. It was not what she wanted to hear. She'd spent her whole life standing out. She was sick of it.

'I…'

'You wanna join my crew?' Haru inquired. Aki gaped.

'Your what?' As the boy opened his mouth, his face growing pained with the explanation, she quickly wished she hadn't asked.

'Well, I wanna be a pirate! I really want to be a pirate, one of the best pirates ever, I mean, I love the sea and I really want to travel and have adventures and be free and it worked for my parents, I mean they fell in love and married when they were on the same crew, so I was thinking, if I have to make a life for myself, why not go find what this world has to offer like they did?'

'Travel, have adventures before I decide what I want to do with my life, but I also have a dream: something I really wanna do and that's to become a pirate emperor, I know there's a pirate king but that's been done and who wants to follow a path that's been done before right?'

'So I wanna become a pirate that's so awesome that he's better than even the pirate king, but my older brother, Daichi, he's kind of got the same idea, thinks it's his responsibility, his birth right or something like that and he's got a huge head-start, especially considering he's older and he's got a four-man crew right now: him, his cranky girlfriend, his cranky girlfriend's nerdy sister and his smart but cowardly best friend and I've not got a single crew member yet to live up to that!'

'So I need to start working on getting myself a crew that I want, a crew that's better than his in every way because it's my dream and I won't him steal it, me and my awesome crew are going to shoot up like a rocket and high-five the stars but I need to start picking crew-members and since my little sister wants to form her own crew, I thought I should do it like my dad did it!'

'Daichi picked people he already knew and he already was best friends with to form a crew and that's nice and all but I thought I'd make my own friends out on the sea, gather a group I could really call my nakama, ya know? And you seem pretty nice and you look really cool so I was wondering if you wanted to join my crew, sail around the world with me in a few years and then we can all reach our dreams and get a happy ending?'

Aki couldn't speak.

Haru had done enough of that for the both of them.

How on earth had he said that all in one breath?

Did human boys just have some sort of magic speech power?

Had he eaten a devil fruit to give him that power over his mouth?

'Well, do you wanna join my crew?' the boy asked again, his face showcasing an odd smile that danced between insecurity and determination. Clearly, he was scared of rejection but hopeful never the less.

Inside, Aki was leaping for joy. In a single moment, her dull existence had snapped into two right before her eyes. All her life, she hadn't exactly been seen as the most pleasant of people to have around.

Hated by humans and fish-man folk alike, she had never really had too many friends. Usually, when she had been asked to play, it was as a last resort. Now, however, here was someone who desperately wanted her, who actually wanted to be associated with her. She could have ran away with the boy at that very moment if her calm head hadn't taken over.

'Y-you don't e-e-even k-know me,' Aki noted despite the smile on her lips. Haru nodded but his expression remained firm.

'I've got a good feeling about you and my dad taught me that a pirate should listen to his instincts because they're probably right.' Haru smiled at her again and she felt like dancing. This wasn't some joke, it couldn't be. This boy really wanted her on his crew.

It was a random, even an insane gesture in itself but the fact that the gesture existed made her feel happy.

'You really want an ugly half fish-man like me on your crew?' she muttered to herself, the fish-boys comments from earlier still weighing heavily in my mind. Haru looked at her like he had just smelt something horrible.

'What? I don't care about that. I just want you to join my crew. Not now, because I still need to get stronger and you need to get stronger too…but someday, I want you on my crew. What do you say?'

Aki didn't know. Her words caught in her throat. She felt lightheaded. A loud voice called through the air and Haru turned in the direction of it, his face cringing at the sound.

'I've got to go now,' the boy said with a pout. 'But I'll be back and when I am, we're going to go sailing together, okay?'

'O-o-okay?' she replied, out of habit more than agreement. The orange haired boy offered her a large grin…before leaping forwards and clamping to her like a clam to an oyster. She felt numb.

'Thank you so much, you're my first crew-mate! Wait until I tell Daichi and Chika. Boy, will they be jealous of my new awesome nakama!' As he hopped back away from her, Aki was sure her heart was going to blow up. No-one but her family had ever hugged her before.

As the orange haired boy ran off towards his own family (a tall black haired boy and short black haired girl who he could only guess were his siblings), he turned back to her and winked.

'Besides, you're not an ugly fish-person. You're actually really pretty.' And then he was gone. Aki just stood there, watching him leave. She didn't know what to say or what to do but she felt ready to explode. She only snapped out of her daze when her parents rushed over.

'Oh my, sweetheart, what happened?'

'Are you hurt? You've got dirt all over your dress!'

'We look away for one minute…are you okay?'

'What happened Aki?' After a while, her voice returned.

'It was just like in the stories Papa,' she whispered, turning to look at her future crew-mate. He had been looking and he waved. She waved back.

'When I was in trouble, a hero saved me.'

* * *

><p>'Haru, come on! Mum and Dad want us back at the ship in ten,' Daichi shouted. Haru puffed a sigh. Daichi laughed as he came marching towards him.<p>

'Look at you, who burst your bubble?'

'You did,' Haru replied. Daichi shrugged, rubbing his hair in that teasing way he loved to do.

'Glad to be of help then my man,' his older brother said, before walking along.

'So what did you do today Haru?' Chika asked as the orange haired boy joined their duo. 'Make any new friends?'

Haru paused at the thought and turned back to the weird girl he had spotted. Her blue skinned daddy was examining her now. He looked pretty scared that something had happened to her. Her mother was taking grass out of her hair. Suddenly Aki met his gaze.

Haru smiled and waved at her. The girl gave a feeble wave back, her face redder than the fish-boy he had smacked in the face earlier.

'I hope so,' he replied.

* * *

><p><em><strong>H is for…Huh?<strong>_

'Come on, it'll be fun.'

'It sounds dangerous.'

'Dangerously fun?'

'No,' Kenichi muttered. 'Just dangerous.'

'Come on, don't be a buzz kill Ken,' Haru groaned.

'I agree with Kenichi,' Chika voiced from beside her brother. 'I don't think you should try sneaking into Buster's garden.'

'You would,' Haru complained.

'What's that supposed to mean?' Kenichi demanded.

'It means you're both cowards and I'm going to be a true adventurer and go look!' Haru shot back, turning around and beginning to climb the fence gate. Chika and Kenichi watched him climb, briefly exchanging a concerned look with one another.

* * *

><p>Buster was a big dog. Buster was a big and very angry dog. Buster was a big and very angry dog who treated his owner's garden as his own personal kingdom. Those are the three facts you really need to know about Buster for these events to make any sense. For if Haru had never decided to demonstrate his bravery by creeping into the dog's garden in order to retrieve a ball Kenichi had kicked over the fence by accident, then Buster would never have woken up in the middle of his nap and this story you are reading would never have occurred.<p>

A single eye inched open as he heard dusty quick footsteps across his garden.

'Ha! Got it!' he heard a voice cry as the footsteps stopped. Spotting some orange hair bouncing up and down, Buster's eyes flashed open as he took in a victorious Haru doing his "hero pose" with the ball in hand, shooting his finger like a gun in every direction.

'Haru, maybe you should…'

'In a second Ken,' Haru replied, still focusing on his victory pose.

'But Haru, Buster…'

'That stupid dog is napping Chika,' Haru shouted back. He pointed towards his sister with his gun finger and gestured to her in a shooting motion. 'Besides, even if he was awake, I'd be able to outrun that fat mutt any…'

As Haru turned around, gesturing his victory pose at Buster, he quickly realised that the dog was in fact standing up and glaring at him. It growled as the finger gun was aimed in his direction. Haru met the animal's gaze and gave a nervous laugh.

'Did I say fat? What I meant to say was big-boned,' he announced, beginning to pace slowly backwards.

Buster, contrary to Haru's belief, didn't understand anything the boy had just said.

What he understood was that a stranger had come into his territory and was taking something from it. Whatever it was, it was from his territory and that made it his. The boy was stealing from him and that was something Buster could not allow.

After a single growl of warning, Buster was off and running. Haru let out a whelp before sprinting towards the gate. He could see his friends panicking from behind the gate but dared not look back at the advancing dog.

'Haru! Come on, get out of there,' his sister screamed.

'He's dead! He's dead! He's dead!' Kenichi repeated to himself, grabbing his head with both hands as he shook violently. As he neared the gate, Haru leapt the rest of the distance and scrambled desperately up the barred fence.

Chika and Kenichi reached for him as he climbed, ready to pull him to safety.

Haru clawed his way up the fence bit by bit.

The dog's snapping jaw felt so close now.

He could hear it right behind him.

With one last bark, Buster sprung up right at Haru's heels...

Luckily, at that moment, Chika and Kenichi grabbed his thick orange hair and pulled him down over the fence onto the floor. He landed gracelessly on top of the two, still trembling from his near death experience. Chika and Kenichi were panting too. For a moment, the trio looked at each, fear frozen in their eyes. Then, they smiled.

'Ha, made it!' Haru declared, throwing the ball up in the air and catching it before adopting his victory shooting pose once more in the dog's direction. 'What are you going to do now Buster?'

Buster appeared to take offense to the question, barking madly at the boy. Haru simply laughed and soon, Kenichi was caught up in the thrill of victory too.

'Yeah, come on doggy, I'm right here,' the blonde said, shaking his backside in the dog's direction. Chika giggled as Haru joined in teasing the dog who had failed to catch him.

The two boys pulled faces with Haru sticking both pinkies up his nose and sticking his tongue out, whilst Kenichi opened his mouth wide and pulled at his cheeks.

Buster snarled for a moment before pausing. As the children laughed together, he glanced at the gate's hinges. Only Chika managed to spot this and her laughter immediately subsided.

'Guys,' she whispered, her heart caught in her throat. The two boys stopped their chuckles at her words and joined her in looking at the dog. Buster took a step forward and placed his paw against the grating fence. With a gentle push, the gate swung open. The three children gaped.

'It was…' Chika began.

'Unlocked…' Kenichi continued.

'The whole time…' Haru finished. Buster seemed to nod, grinning with his large teeth in victory. He licked his lips. The children stepped backwards as one. As Buster approached them, they let out a single word of terror.

'DADDY!'

* * *

><p>Luffy turned around, dropping the mountain of clothes his wife had given him.<p>

'Did you sense that?'

'Don't change the subject Dad!' Daichi yelled, stamping his feet like a spoilt child. 'You promised to start teaching me haki today!'

'And you better pick up Nami-swan and Vivi-chwan's outfits asshole,' Sanji agreed, glaring with disgust at the fabrics on the floor.

'But I thought I heard someone calling,' Luffy explained, turning to his cook with a serious expression. Sanji fell quiet, listening for what his captain had heard. His face tensed as he too recognised a faint echo of noise.

Daichi glanced between the two, utterly confused as to what was wrong. As Vivi and Nami rounded the corner, the two women joined Daichi in giving the men a confused look.

'What are you two doing?' Vivi asked.

'Luffy, what happened to my clothes?' the straw-hat navigator said , poking her husband's shoulder in irritation when she spotted her purchases littering the floor.

'Listening to something,' Luffy replied, completely ignoring Nami's comment. His wife screwed up her face and let out an exasperated groan.

'Listening to what?'

'HELP!' The four adults shared a look of concern. They had all heard that.

'THE KIDS!' they shouted as one.

'Daichi, why weren't you watching them?' Nami shrieked, grabbing her eldest son by his collar.

'They seemed alright last time I checked. I wanted to come in here and talk to Dad,' Daichi replied, shamefully looking to the floor.

Luffy didn't bother listening to the brewing quarrel. Instead, he stamped on the floor, his leg pulsating as he did so. Nami realised only too late what he was doing.

'Luffy, don't…'

In the moment's pause, Luffy's leg had sagged like an accordion before snapping back into place. As the Pirate King gave a deep intake of breath, his body veered into action, glowing a faint bright red. In the blink of an eye, he was gone.

* * *

><p>As Luffy sprung out of the shop with inhuman speed, he turned in the direction of the yell. Down the street, he could already see what was happening.<p>

Kenichi was on the floor, having tripped over. Haru had stopped to try and help the boy up, whereas Chika was standing in front of both of them, refusing to move as the dog approached. He was almost on them now, his teeth like sharp knives.

Luffy readied himself to move.

Then he stopped.

In a split second, he had sensed it.

It had been nothing more than a tiny ripple in a vast ocean but he had felt it and he found himself frozen in place, trying to work out where this familiar sensation was coming from.

The answer came as the rapid dog leapt towards his daughter, his eyes glaring straight through her towards his downed target.

'Don't you dare…' Chika started, her eyes a glow with new found determination. 'Think of hurting…MY FAMILY!'

The air around her parted as a sudden pressure filled the air.

Kenichi found his breathing had stopped, as if the air was so dense he was choking on it.

Haru fell over as a gust of wind swept past him.

Even Buster froze in place, losing all momentum in an instant. Random passers-by on the street either stopped in their stride or keeled over.

Nami and Daichi suffered from the same bout of dizziness and were forced to lean against a wall for support.

Vivi would have tumbled backwards herself had Sanji not been there to catch her.

Only Luffy seemed truly unaffected.

He simply stood where he was, smoke still pouring from his heated skin. Slowly, Gear Second faded away and his heart stopped wrestling with his lungs long enough to join their master in his confusion.

The dog had stopped in its tracks. The tension in its mouth was gone and the fire in its eyes had died.

It stared at Chika.

Chika stared back. Her face held a firm defiant glare that could would make even Whitebeard himself tremble.

'Get lost,' she commanded in a voice so different from the five year-old who spoke the words. The dog hesitated for a moment. 'I said get lost!' Chika repeated and this time, the dog did as he was told, dashing back to its kennel with a series of yelps.

Chika stayed standing in front of the two boys for a brief moment before all the anger faded from her face and she smiled with relief.

Turning back to the two boys, who looked completely stunned at what they had just witnessed, Chika laughed and scratched the back of her head.

'It's a good thing that dog is a good listener, huh?'

* * *

><p>'What just happened?' Daichi asked, nudging his blue haired aunt in the hope that she knew the answer. Vivi shrugged.<p>

'Dear?' she questioned in turn, looking to her husband for an answer. Sanji, for the first time in his life, was ignoring her and joined his former crew-mates in watching the small black haired girl.

'Did she just…' Luffy mumbled aloud, as Chika helped Kenichi and Haru to their feet.

'No, no she couldn't have,' Sanji answered, his own eyes wide in surprise, his cigarette threatening to fall out of his mouth as he gaped.

'But I think she just did…' Nami finished. The three straw-hats looked to one another and then back at Chika. The black haired girl spotted them looking and gave them a sweet smile and a wave. The three returned the wave rigidly, their mouths still gaping.

'Well…' Luffy started, scratching the bristles on his chin. 'This is…new.'

* * *

><p><em><strong>Until next time, I'm Shadowonthewall6 and I hoped you enjoyed these collection of letter H inspired one-shots.<strong>_

_**Please review. Positive criticism is welcome.**_


	9. I

_**Okay, for another 'about time' update, here is the latest A-Z one-shot! I'm not going to lie to you guys: these one has been trouble. The central word, for the most part, hasn't changed...but this story has been written and re-written so many times, I'm just glad it's in a somewhat finished state...so, since I've completely lost patience with it now (or ,for one more I-word, I'm simply 'Impatient', here's something resembling a finished one-shot that I hope you all enjoy. I know it's been a while and I know I've got a ton of stories milling around, which is really my own fault. All I can say to you guys though is that as well as finding time to write this stuff, I'm trying to work on my own novel aspirations and such, so these updates are still going to be pretty damn sparce. I just hope you guys enjoy whatever I come out with and remember what is becoming my new cardinal rule for everything: it'll be done when it's done!**_

_**Without further ado, I hope you all enjoy I.**_

* * *

><p><em><span><strong>I is for Independence<strong>_

Chika had hoped to get some sleep tonight. After a busy day of playing and learning navigation with Mummy, she was hoping for a brief period of rest to close out her busy work.

That was before the shouting started.

It wasn't the usual kind of shouting.

Mummy wasn't yelling at Daddy. She could tell from the lack of her father's laughter or his reassuring whispers that left Mummy happy. So happy, Chika remembered, that she would bring Daddy upstairs and then they'd play bouncing on the bed. Chika always wanted to play too but Mummy and Daddy locked the door.

Instead, the sounds that emerged from downstairs came in the form of an angry gravelly voice.

"Come on, can't you at least consider it?"

"Absolutely not!" Mummy yelled from below. "Daichi, you're only thirteen years old!"

"I won't be going alone. I'll have Kuina, Aesop and Olvia with me."

"If you think Robin and Zoro are going to let their little girls out onto the vast ocean before their seventeen birthdays, let me correct that thought right now young man."

"We're not going anywhere too dangerous Mum, we're just going to practice sailing around the East Blue. Nothing major is going to-"

"Nothing major? Need I remind you exactly what your father and I got up to when we- Luffy, stop smiling- when we started out adventuring?"

"Oh yeah, clowns and cat people. I'm quaking in my sandals."

"And Fish-men! Did you forget the Fish-men pirates?" Chika certainly hadn't. Mummy's stories of the fish-men were what kept her up at night. Some were okay, like Uncle Jimbei and Hatchan. The tales of Arlong and his monstrous crew were what horrified her to no end. She shivered as she refocused on the conversation downstairs. Daichi, by comparison, scoffed at the notion of fish-men.

"And I'm the son of the Pirate King and my girlfriend is the daughter of the world's greatest swordsman. I think we'll be fine."

"You're still children!" Chika heard numerous murmurs from her brother attempting to find the right words to say. Mummy must have been giving him a glare, daring him to attempt to dispute this fact. Eventually, her brother conceded defeat and pursued victory from another angle.

"I'm not talking about the Grand Line mum, I'm not talking about leaving for good. I'm talking about testing the waters around the East Blue, that's all."

"You say that if it's such a simple thing. Daichi, it's dangerous out there on the sea."

"But less dangerous on the East Blue," Daichi countered. "And if I'm going to go out sailing, don't you want me to have some experience on the matter first so I don't automatically get skewered by the bigger dangers out there? And wouldn't the safest place I could sail as a proving ground be the East Blue?" Chika could hardly imagine her mother speechless but for once, her mummy seemed to be at her wit's end.

"I…I said no! Luffy, tell him."

Daddy had said nothing the whole time. Chika believed it was the smartest thing her Daddy could have done.

Every time Daddy usually talked and tried to argue, Mummy usually won. Granted, that was because most of the time Mummy was right but they had fought so frequently that Daddy had learned to pick his battles. Fighting against warlords of the sea, pirate emperors and the admirals of the marines, all of it was child's play.

Fighting with Mummy was on a whole other level.

Strangely, when Daddy did speak again, his voice seemed to lack any of his trademark enthusiasm.

"There's no point."

"Luffy, don't just say that. Come on, tell him."

"Nami, he's already made up his mind, you can see it on his face," Daddy announced. Chika tried to lean over from her perch on the stairs, trying to see what face her Daddy was referring too. Sadly, all she saw framed in the hallway was Daichi's black hair. A single sigh escaped through the silence.

"He has, hasn't he?" Mummy stepped into sight of the doorway. She was frowning. "You know, I'm not happy about this."

"You're never happy about anything though," Daichi countered. Chika stifled a laugh. Mummy simply shook her head. The look on her face told Chika her brother would pay for that comment later. As for right now...

"You're serious about this?"

"Yes."

"Then we'll talk to Franky tomorrow. Get a ship commissioned. If my stupid little boy is going out sailing on the big open sea, I at least want him to be well prepared." Daichi's body seemed to relax.

"Really?" Mummy nodded.

"I'm not like your father. I don't make dumb jokes."

"Love you too Nami," Daddy called, rolling his eyes as he stepped in to huge her from behind. Mummy smiled.

The smile confused Chika for a moment. She had thought smiles meant you were happy. Even though she was smiling, Mummy didn't look too happy. She looked sad. Well, not sad perhaps. More…oh, she didn't quite know the word for it.

Chika pouted, making a small note to read more in the future.

Daichi, on the other hand, was filled with joy. He had started jumping in place, celebrating his victory with the widest grin on his face. Her brother's happiness was reassuring.

The world was pretty big and scary though. Chika tightened the grip on her teddy bear.

Daichi would be going sailing. Even if he was only testing the waters, the thought of being without her brother for a while made her want to go cuddle up under the covers of her bed.

As Chika dashed off to bed, the hopeful thoughts of Daichi leaving being a dream became more and more common until she had finally reached her bed. She grabbed the covers, wrapped them around her and squeezed both the covers and her bear tight. Her loyal companion, Beary, remained steadfast in both his adorable gaze and comforting feel. Chika nuzzled into her pillow until the ache had subsided. Daichi was big and strong. He was going to be fine. She was going to be okay too. She had Daddy and Mummy and Haru to look after her. Everything was going to be…

Haru.

Chika blinked. She hadn't heard anything from her brother when she had walked into their room. Usually, she could hear his low yawn-like rumblings even from the other edge of the landing. Currently, however, the room was silent of any such noise. Curious, Chika poked her head out from her bundle of colours and looked over to her brother's bed.

"Haru," she whispered. No reply. She frowned. He was ignoring her again. "Haru!" she repeated. Nothing. Irritation won out in the end and Chika rolled out of her nice warm bed to poke her brother's bundle. "Haru! Haru! Ha-" As she abandoned her method of subtle poking for a simple kick to the duvet, Chika found herself off-balance as the kick travelled straight into the mush of a quilt. Chika's eyes widened. She sprung forwards, throwing the covers from the bed. Her worst fears confirmed themselves. Haru was gone.

"DADDY! MUMMY!"

* * *

><p><em><span><strong>I is for Ignorance<strong>_

Haru sneezed.

It was cold.

Really cold.

It was raining too, heavily at that.

Haru growled, stamping a foot in a puddle. He'd chosen one hell of a night to run away from home. He should have ran away during the day, clearly. At least then he'd be able to see where he was going. As it was, he was cold, wet AND lost. A very un-useful combination. At the very least, he'd managed to find his way to the sea.

That was the easy part.

The difficult part was finding the docks. Docks were where ships slept, so it was a simple matter of deduction for Haru of where he was going to go. He had to find the docks. From there, he was gonna sneak onto a ship. And from then, his life of adventure would begin.

Haru was grinning just at the thought.

So much for Daichi beating him to the punch.

He was going to sail the sea before anyone else!

The first of a new generation. They'd speak of him for centuries: Monkey D. Haru, The First Supernova! It was enough to make him jump for joy. The spring in his step was remarkably evident as he went, mostly because he kept slipping on the wet and muddy ground every time he landed.

Haru was pretty confident about his coming life on the sea. He had already packed the essentials: cookies, slingshot and his favourite Yo-Yo. Yeah. With equipment like that and his already amazing strength and will, he was bound to rule the East Blue in no time.

Eventually, Haru found his way to Cocoyashi's port. The streets were deserted. Clearly only insane people would have been out in this weather. Haru chuckled. And he was the most insane of them all. That had to be something in his favour.

Haru hopped into town, hauling his tiny bag and chuckling at the notion of his impending escape from home.

No-one at home probably knew he had disappeared yet. They were all too busy talking downstairs with Daichi. Haru scowled. Daichi. Daddy's little boy. He was going to show them. They'd all see. He was going to be future king of the pirates, not Dai. He'd blaze a trail of greatness through the world and no-one would stop it. No-one could stop him! Just the thought of how proud his father would be made him just smile wider.

He was so close now. The boats were mere inches away. He didn't know about ships but he'd probably choose the one with the most bad-ass sail. That sounded like a good idea. Then he'd be free. Haru stalked along the docks, examining each ship in turn. With each step, he felt he was getting closer. He could smell the salt in the air, the scent of freedom.

So close.

Nothing could stop him now.

Of course, timing had never been Haru's strong point.

"Bad night for a walk on your own." Haru froze. He whirled around, holding his fist out at the person who had spoken. A pair of azure eyes stared down at his small balled hand. Amusement flickered within them. "Oh dear, I'm so terrified," Olvia announced in a mono-tone voice. Haru quickly recovered from his surprise and relaxing, his hand slumping down to his side.

"What are you doing out here?"

"Looking for you, isn't it obvious?" Haru was left staring at her, confusion evident on his face.

"What?"

"Chika saw you were out of bed so your parents spread out the word. We're all out looking for you."

"We?" Haru wondered aloud, dipping his head to look at the floor. His plan was suddenly starting to fall apart.

"Your mum, your dad, Daichi, Kuina, my dad, my mum, uncle Sanji, everyone. We're all out here in this weather looking for you," Olvia replied, crouching down to look Haru in the eye. Even as she lost height, Haru couldn't shake the feeling that Olvia was still looking down on him. He matched her caring look with a glare. Olvia remained un-phased. "You had everyone worried."

"They don't need to be. I'm fine," Haru replied, turning away from the conversation. He didn't get far before Olvia grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

"Why are you out like this anyway? You should be back home in bed."

"I'm fine, let go of me," Haru argued, tugging on his arm. Olvia's grip held firm.

"You didn't answer my question. Why did you sneak out?"

"I'm leaving okay!" Haru finally snapped. "I'm going to get on a boat and I'm going to start my adventures out there." Olvia seemed oddly passive to the statement. Almost as if she hadn't heard it at all. That only served to irritate Haru even more though.

"Come on, let's get you back home."

"No, I'm going out to sea!" Haru spat back. Olvia frowned.

"Haru, we're all worried about you and you're too young to be worrying about this. Let's get you back home and…"

"You don't get it Olvia!" Haru argued, slamming his foot into the floor, as if this would somehow make himself understood. "All I've ever wanted to be is a pirate. I'm fed up of waiting, I'm going out there!" Olvia's grip on his wrist tightened and she pulled him roughly forwards.

"No, we're taking you back home right now. You're too young to be thinking of this, too young to want to go off on your own."

"I'm the prince of the pirates!"

"You're also six years old. You're coming home." As the argument continued, Haru felt himself growing more and more frustrated. Reasoning with Olvia was impossible and so far, she had yet to release his arm from her hold. The anger finally bubbled to the surface, rippling the atmosphere in an explosion of rage.

"You're saying that but you've got what you want. You're free to just go out there right now and sail the seas, become a true pirate. That's what I want. All I want is the same as you want: to be a pirate!"

"Well, maybe I don't want to be a pirate! Did you ever think that?"

Haru blinked. Olvia looked just as confused at the words she had just said as he had. Silence swarmed them, drifting between the raindrops.

Haru was sure he heard Olvia sigh and concluded that, for once, they were thinking on the same wavelength.

It was going to be one long night.

* * *

><p><em><span><strong>I is for Individuality<strong>_

The conversation had stopped dead after that.

Haru had at least seemed more willing to heed what she had been saying and relented to her pulling him out of the rain and into a sheltered porch. They were currently sat in the archway, facing each other in silence as the rain pelted down outside.

Olvia watched the rain, painfully aware of Haru's own eyes watching her. He wanted to say something. She had glimpsed it on his lips. Maybe his own tiredness had caught up with him or perhaps the boy had finally seen sense because ever since she had levelled him with a fierce glare, Haru hadn't said a word on the matter. Olvia bit her lip.

It didn't matter now.

Haru knew what her thoughts were on his expected career. Her expected career too. There had never been any doubt up to this point from her father that his little girls would rock the world exactly as he did: becoming pirates and sailors on the high sea. It wasn't a fate that Olvia wanted proscribed to her and now, she had made that known.

The six year-old brother of her sister's boyfriend knew one of the biggest decisions of her life before she had even worked up the courage to tell her parents.

She hadn't meant to tell anyone yet, especially only a little kid like Haru. She had tried not to worry about it, tried to downplay it's importance.

After all, she only had one relative recent simple goal on her mind that night: find Haru and bring him back home safe and sound.

It was a decision she and her family had made the instant Nami had arrived at their house, crying her eyes out and explaining to her mother that Haru was missing. Father, Kuina and her had almost broken down the door in their desperate attempt to sprint into the night at the same time. The thought of them climbing over each other for a chance to get through the door would usually have made her laugh.

Currently, Olvia didn't feel like laughing though. She had tried to keep her cool (tried being the key word).

In the end, however, her worry for Haru's safety and her own irritation at his reason for sneaking out that night had left her shaken. All that frustration had grown and leaked out and now, now she had said the exact fear that had been on her mind for weeks. The suddenness of it all left her breathless.

And, to top it all off, Haru was staring at her like a child does a teacher, demanding to know more. He wanted to know what she had meant. Perhaps it was going to affect his own decision. His plan to run away had definitely stopped in his tracks but whilst she had his attention, Olvia was determined to steer Haru away from the idea of running away again. The only problem was she had no idea what exactly to say about it.

She turned to Haru, still staring at her intently, curious. He took this as a signal to speak. Olvia wished he hadn't.

"You…you don't want to…" he started. Olvia shook her head.

"Be a pirate? No, no I don't." Haru considered this possibility for a brief moment. The look on his face made it painfully aware that he had no idea that such an option as 'not being a pirate' existed in life. He sniffled in the cold, his nose twitching before he turned to her again.

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want to," Olvia replied simply, turning back to look at the rain. She didn't like this. She wasn't in the mood for a big life-speech lesson. That was more Kuina's territory. She preferred to be a quiet supporter and though Daichi, Aesop and Kuina marked her as the mother of the group, it was a role she accepted bitterly. If she had her way, moments like this would be avoided all together. Especially if they occurred with six year olds who, Olvia had to admit, she had never talked to more than a simple exchange, let alone a big meaningful talk about life. "Why do you want to be a pirate?" Haru smirked.

"Because I want to." Olvia smiled back. Cheeky bastard.

"No, I mean really," she continued. "Why do you wanna be a pirate?"

"Why not?" Haru replied in a manner that reminded Olvia of his father. She shook her green haired head at the response.

"Well, you know what typical pirates are like, right? They steal, maim and kill anyone who crosses their path."

"Or they go on sweet awesome adventures. That's what our daddy's and mummy's did," Haru suggested. Olvia nodded. Yeah, that was true. Only…

"What if I don't want to though?" Again, this question confused the poor boy to no end and he squinted at Olvia as if she was a complete stranger.

"You…don't want to have an adventure?"

"Not so much that," Olvia replied, searching for the exact thing she wanted to say. "I'm just not sure I like the lifestyle: moving around and all that." Again, Haru looked confused but Olvia decided to keep going. If he wasn't going to understand her, then she could at least vent to someone. "I mean…it's almost as if that's what's expected of us, right? The children of the king of the pirates and the world's greatest swordsman, clearly we're gonna be pirate kings and swordswomen too."

Haru nodded, seeing no problem with this assessment.

"Sounds cool."

"But is that what we want to do or is it what we feel we have to do? Like, are we just doing to escape our parent's shadows or are we doing it because it's genuinely what we want to do?" Finally, the idea seemed to click with Haru. He gave a slow nod, massaging his orange hair.

"Like…as in Daichi tells you that you should climb a tree and you do it because if you don't he'll call you a wimp rather than you actually wanting to do it."

"Yeah, that. Exactly that," Olvia replied, surprisingly excited by the concept of someone finally understanding her plight. "I'm fed up of living in my parents' shadow. I don't want to be a historian or a swordswoman, I want to be…" Olvia's voice faded after that and she went back to looking outside. "Well…I don't quite know that far ahead…I suppose my point is you shouldn't obsess over your future. At least, not this early. There's a time and a place for everything and…"

She turned to Haru again. He barely seemed to be following whatever she had been saying but she could tell he was trying to. His stubbornness had faded away into a general curiosity.

"Well…all I'm saying is that you shouldn't try and rush things. I mean, look at me: I'm a lot older than you and I barely know what I want to do with my life. If you want to be a pirate, that's great. I just don't think you should try and rush it." Haru was silent in reply. He stared straight at the floor, letting all of Oliva's words wash over him. It was the most pensive she'd ever seen the boy.

"So…" Haru finally said, the lone word testing the air.

"You're free to do what you want," Olvia commented when the silence became too much. "I'm just saying…just don't rush through your childhood. It's something that you need to keep hold of. Everything that's happening now is moulding you into the man that you're going to be."

Olvia paused for a moment, once again remembering the boy sitting in front of her. Yeah, he was a boy. He still had growing up to go through everything she was talking about. Besides, this was more a talk to herself then him. Olvia feared that she was being a bit too much.

"What I'm saying is don't lose sight of your dreams…but don't focus on them too much either." She reached forwards, planting her hand on Haru's head and ruffling his hair. "You'll still a kid. Savour your time a bit more and don't just jump into your future so recklessly, okay?" Haru nodded, though on the whole he still looked uncertain.

"So, what you're saying…is…"

"Yeah?" Olvia encouraged him with a smile and a nod.

"That…"

"Yeah?"

"I need to start training! To be ready for whatever goes on when I am old enough to leave!"

Olvia sighed.

It was probably the closest that Haru was going to get to realising what she was saying.

It was a start at least and she was willing to accept that.

"So…" Olvia stirred, standing up and offering Haru her hand "you ready to go home little man?" Haru chuckled at the question but never the less, grabbed Olvia's hand.

"Sure thing Liv…and thanks." Olvia smiled, pulling the boy up to full height.

"What for?" she asked.

"Well, for the advice," Haru replied with a simple shrug of his shoulders. "I mean…it's made me…" He paused, biting his lip. "The…the thing…with…the pictures…in my head…" Olvia squinted.

"Think?"

"Yeah, that's the one!" Haru clapped his hands and burst out into a grin. "You've got my thinking…and I guess you're right." Haru took a big step forwards, splashing into a puddle. Olvia followed him with a raised eyebrow.

"You understood all of that?" she asked. Haru scowled at her clear level of surprise.

"Well, duh! I'm little, I'm not stupid!" he shouted before descending into a pout. Olvia couldn't help but laugh at the look on his wet face.

"Sorry Haru but as of a few moments ago, you've not given me much evidence to the contrary."

"What?"

"Exactly," Olvia concluded with a smile. "So, what's in store for the pirate prince now then? Changed your mind?"

"A bit," the young boy revealed, looking up to the black sky. "I mean, I still want to do the adventures and stuff…but you're right. Maybe pirate's not the right idea. Maybe I should try something else…but then again, like you said, I guess I've got a while to work that out…"

Almost absent-mindedly, Haru swung his arm backwards and grabbed hold of Olvia's, giving it a reassuring squeeze. Olvia smiled.

"Yeah, yeah you do. Don't worry kiddo." She squeezed back. Haru smirked. The two started walking away from the port, hand in hand. As they went, Haru couldn't help but turn to Olvia and ask the question that had been wandering inside his head ever since Oliva had first made her declaration.

"So…if you don't want to be a pirate, why did you say you'd join Daichi's pirate crew anyway?" Olvia considered the question briefly before replying.

"Well…I just thought that if I had no idea what I wanted to be…I might as well go wandering through life blindly with people I really want to be with, right?"

Haru seemed pleased with the reason and the two continued their walk in silence, the dark clouds above finally breaking away the rain and revealing a single slit of moon-light, illuminating the road back home.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Until next time, I've been MikeTurner1 (still not used to that name change there) and I hope you all enjoyed this Chika, Haru and Olvia focused segment of A-Z. Hopefully, the next one shouldn't be as long to update as this one (mostly because I've already got the word and plot all figured out...but we'll see).<strong>_

_**Please review. Positive criticism is welcome.**_


	10. J

**_Hey everybody, MikeTurner1 here again. Hope you guys are enjoying yourselves. So, recently it has come to my attention that I've got a lot of fan-fictions on here, so I've decided I should really start trying to wrap some up so I can work on other stuff. The bad news is most of the time I write fan-fiction, the ideas are pretty crazy, over the top and complex (see the epic sagas of Search the Wind and Scarlet Wind) so I've realised that that goal is probably easier said than done._**

**_But, there is some good news, because I've decided to try writing A-Z one-shots more regularly in order to quickly finish this collection. Don't worry, that doesn't mean I'm going to rush things: I already pretty much know the main plot-points between here and the final chapter 'Z'...but it does mean that these oneshots should be coming out more regularly._**

**_So, without a further ado, here's a new one-shot for A-Z, J, which will be focusing around Chika, Haru and a surprise visitor! This took a lot of effort to get written and even now, I'm not sure if it completely works...but never the less, it's done now, for better or for worse and I hope you guys enjoy._**

* * *

><p><em><strong>J is for Justice<strong>_

There truly was no justice in the world.

That was the conclusion Chika reached as she watched her brother happily slurping down his ice-cream. His escape attempt had only been a week ago and already, it seemed to have been well and truly forgotten.

Mummy, of course, had been worried. Chika remembered how when Olvia brought Haru home that night, the first thing her Mummy had done was spring upon her brother, her wrath taking the form of a thousand worried kisses and cuddles. It was a bizarre sight to be sure, seeing mummy frozen in a state between pure rage and relief.

Even Daddy seemed put off by the strange blend of the sinister and the sweet. Daddy was pleased to see Haru back too though, trying to play off that he wasn't worried about his disappearance in the slightest and had every faith that he would return unharmed. As always, Daddy was a terrible liar but the fact he tried to make Haru feel better seemed to cheer her brother up.

At first, Chika was pleased to see Haru return unharmed as well. Yes, he was as smelly and as gross as usual but at least he was okay.

After his return to the family, however, Chika noticed a genuine change.

Despite abandoning any possible desire to escape to sea before he came of age, Haru had become much more confident after his return. He seemed less prone to fighting with Daichi and, when Daichi did occasionally make humorous pokes at Haru's lack of a crew, the remarks were discarded by the young boy with a smirk.

Chika tried asking Olvia what she had said to make Haru so calm but Olvia gave nothing away, simply rustling Chika's black hair and informing her it was a secret.

If there was one thing that Chika hated, it was secrets.

If there was another thing she was allowed to hate, it was arrogance.

Mummy and Daddy, happy to have their little boy home again, had spoiled Haru rotten and the pirate prince now had them dancing to his every whim like puppets. It was bound to wear off sooner or later. By the end of his first week back, however, Haru had succeeded in driving her crazy by accepting the spoils of his return with an ungrateful smirk.

Chika shivered as he went to shovel in another mouthful of ice cream. Haru paused, cream drooling from his mouth as he looked to his sister.

"What? Do you want some?"

"No thank you," Chika replied, failing to hide her sneer. In truth, she loved ice cream but she didn't want to inflate Haru's ego by accepting his offer. Haru must have noticed because he scowled at her in reply. It turned out her brother was much more astute than she gave him credit for.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked, swallowing another helping of ice cream. His mouth flapped open and closed with a terrible slapping noise that made Chika shiver.

"Nothing," she insisted. It wasn't his fault he was being spoiled. He was a boy, after all, and boys tended to be greedy. Chika was willing to suffer in silence as long as her brother stayed happy though. Haru seemed to be oblivious to her selfless approach and kept glaring in her direction.

"It looks like something's wrong."

"I'm okay."

"No, you're not," Haru insisted, scooping another spoonful of ice cream out of the bucket and gesturing it towards her. "You sure you don't want some!?" Chika stared with revulsion at the spoon, as if it mocked her with its mere presence.

"No thank you," she mumbled again. Haru didn't seem convinced.

"Why are you sulking then if you don't want any?"

"I'm not sulking," Chika muttered through a pout. Haru frowned.

"Obviously," he grunted, going back to eating his ice cream. Chika observed the boy's feasting, irritation clearly building in her gaze. Haru watched her rage rising, growing steadily bemused himself.

"Are you sure you're-"

"I'm fine!" Chika snapped, her voice going louder than she had meant to. She instantly regretted it as Haru reeled back away from her. The insult was evident across his face, though the expression quickly morphed into a look of anger.

"Fine! If you want the ice-cream so badly, just have it!"

There wasn't much ice cream left in the tub but enough still remained so that when Haru flung it forwards, a large splodge of cream smacked Chika right in the face. The pirate princess sat where she was for a moment, in complete awe that her brother had done such a thing. It took a brief moment for it to fully sink in for Haru exactly what he had done. His ice-cream missile had definitely impacted with its target.

Unfortunately, a side effect of his well-placed attack was that the cream splatter had also trickled down from its initial target, meaning a blob of cold wet goop had landed straight on Chika's lap where her loyal companion 'Beary' sat.

In one unlucky swoop, Haru had stained his sister's favourite red dress and her loyal teddy bear.

The poor boy wasted his one second head-start in shaking his head in disbelief and begging for forgiveness but by then, it was too late.

"HARU!"

* * *

><p>Luffy and Nami had been enjoying a quiet break from the kids in the garden. Quiet moments were a rare thing in a household belonging to the King of the Pirates so Nami enjoyed the small moments of peace (even if Luffy still couldn't properly tend a mikan grove to save his life). She leaned up, ready to press her lips to his for some random stupid but sweet comment he had given about how she hadn't changed a day since they first met (he had meant how she was still so concerned with her fruit but Luffy didn't object the kiss in any regard).<p>

The instant their lips touched, the chaos that began in the kitchen erupted into the garden.

"Haru, get back here!"

"No!"

"Get back here and let me hit you!"

Haru belted out of the house, immediately running towards the shelter of his mummy's arms. Chika, determined as ever, dashed after him, a rare expression of fury crossing her face. Hearing the argument, Nami sighed, stepping away from Luffy and shaking her head.

"Can't leave them for two minutes…they take after you, you know?" she muttered.

"Mummy, Daddy, help! Chika's gone insane!" Haru cried, springing behind his mother. Chika seemed completely ignorant of her mummy's presence and continued chasing Haru, the two siblings circling around their mother.

"You threw ice cream in my face!"

"You were glaring at me!"

"And you threw ice-cream in my face for no reason!"

"Chika! Haru!" Nami begged, frantically attempting to catch her children. Sadly, Chika and Haru were at that stage where energy came freely and quickly and no amount of frantic snatching from their mother could calm them down. Eventually, Nami turned to Luffy, who stood to one side simply smirking at the situation. "Don't just stand there, help me!"

"Yes dear," Luffy said through a laugh, stretching out his arms to grab hold of them. Haru and Chika let out a shared gasp as their legs left the floor and they hung, helpless, in their father's arms. Their mother smirked down at them, basking in her victory.

"Thank you Luffy," Nami purred, pressing a kiss to the Pirate King's cheek. Haru gagged, earning another glare from his sister.

"Gross."

"You're gross."

"Don't make me come down there!" Nami insisted, pointing her finger in their faces.

"Okay, settle down Nami," Luffy mumbled, placing Haru and Chika down on the floor, turning them round to look at him. "Now, tell me what's going on. Why were you two fighting?"

"Haru threw ice-cream in my face," Chika explained. Haru shifted to look at her with a glare.

"Tattletale!"

"Haru…" Nami breathed the word into the air as a warning.

"She was staring at me!"

"That's not reason enough to throw ice-cream at someone," Nami spoke up, planting a hand on Haru's skull. "Apologise to your sister." Haru bit his lip.

Sorry.

It was his least favourite word and there was no way in heck he was going to say it to his stupid cootie filled sister.

He levelled a glare at her, challenging her to question his silence.

"Haru…" Haru winced as his mother tugged on his ear. "Are you listening to me young man?"

"Sorry," he growled.

"It's okay," Chika mumbled. Her bitter voice portrayed the opposite effect.

"Well, that's settled then," Luffy spoke up, grinning ear to ear once more. "What do you say we go back inside and play a game?"

"Ah sweet! A game!" Haru shouted, pumping his arms in excitement. It was not a sentiment shared by his sister.

"You mean…that's it?" Luffy and Nami glanced to their daughter with shared looks of confusion.

"He threw ice-cream at you. No harm done," Luffy muttered, wiping the chocolate sauce off of Chika's head and licking it with a satisfied smirk. Chika felt heartbroken.

"But…but he ruined my dress…"

"Your brother said he was sorry sweetheart."

"But he'll just do it again. And he hurt Beary, look!" Chika pouted, holding up her precious protector, still stained by her vicious horror of a brother. Luffy chuckled.

"He still looks pretty brave and strong to me, just a flesh wound. Right Nurse Mummy?" He looked up to his wife with a smirk, that usual smirk Nami could never resist returning.

"Why yes Doctor Daddy, he looks fine. I'll wash him before you go to bed sweetheart, don't worry," Nami offered, crouching down to give Chika another hug.

Chika didn't feel happy.

Her beautiful bear had been defiled and her brother was getting away.

She frowned.

Where was the justice?

As Mummy and Daddy walked back inside, she hung back, clutching Beary and staring at the floor. She just couldn't shake the feeling. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair. Her slow footsteps soon fell into a rhythm beside her brother's. She turned to him, absent-mindedly wondering if he could solve the riddle looping round in her head.

He didn't seem to want to even if he knew though. Haru was sulking in defeat and he made it painfully obvious with the way his eyes burned at her. Chika tightened her hold of Beary.

"Tattletale," Haru muttered again. Chika started walking faster, unwilling to hear the rest of what her brother had to say. Usually, this might had gone without remark. Sadly, luck did not seem to prefer Chika or her brother on that day.

Haru had been simmering with rage since the morning.

He had seen his sister's sad mopey face at breakfast and he had no idea what was wrong. Even worse, she had been hiding her sadness from him all day. It just wasn't right.

They were family, right?

Shouldn't that mean they could share their problems?

That was what their parents had said.

Maybe Chika was just doing this whole thing for attention.

Haru clenched his fists.

Chika was always mummy and daddy's favourite.

His parents would probably never admit it but Chika had a grip on them like Haru had never seen before. Perhaps it was because she was a little girl in a boy's house or perhaps it was because she looked so much like her parents that they had taken so fondly to her.

No matter the reason, the result was the same in Haru's mind: Chika was jealous of being knocked out of the spotlight. Haru tried to shake the thought but it continued to persist.

Growing steadily angrier with his sister and himself, Haru increased his pace. He had to get to some place to clear his head. Maybe talk to Daddy and Mummy about it. They'd understand. Maybe.

Chika only noticed Haru when he was right at her side and by then, it was too late. The boy had started running, completely ignorant of his sister as he bounded past her. His elbow swung up as he moved, lashing back to smack her straight in the face. Chika, knocked off balance by the sudden blow, fell to the floor. She moved her arm to steady herself but by then, the damage was done.

The new stone path Usopp had put in a few years prior was as beautiful as it was hard.

Chika couldn't help but consider this as she landed, smashing into her right arm with the full weight of her body behind her.

The panic in the scream that left her mouth was only matched by the expression her brother gave as he turned to look at his injured sister.

"Daddy! Mummy!" They didn't need to be called twice. In an instant, Luffy and Nami were outside, their faces alight with concern.

"Haru, what…" Luffy didn't even finish his sentence. He got his answer.

Chika was lying on the floor, screaming in pain as tears rolled down her cheek.

"Chika!" Nami cried, racing forwards and skidding to a stop on her knees by the girl's side. Luffy joined her.

"Chika, are you okay sweetie?" Chika couldn't speak. All that escaped her mouth was more screams. Haru watched the scene from the wall, slowing edging away from his sister. Tears of his own swarmed his vision.

"I didn't…I didn't mean to…" he began, his eyes tightening at the sudden sting. He hadn't. He'd just meant to get past her. Just meant to go round. He hadn't meant to…

"He pushed me! He pushed me!" Chika screamed, her pretty face stained red with her crying. She wasn't even looking in Haru's direction but the boy felt her rage. When his mother and father turned to look at him, he found he couldn't contain the tears any more. Shaking his head, Haru edged backwards.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled, his voice cracking as the word left his mouth. Chika didn't seem to hear.

"You did that on purpose!" she screamed, ignoring her mother's tight hold on her body and turning to glare at her brother.

"I didn't mean to," Haru muttered, his own eyes filling with tears now. "Chika, I'm sorry…I'm sorry…"

"Sorry's not good enough," Chika shouted. "You're mean! Mean people should be punished!" The words were nothing special but they were shouted with such force that Haru slumped against the wall. He looked over at Chika, crying as he hugged her legs. It had been an accident. An accident.

"…We're pirates," Haru muttered helplessly, as if this answered why he had hurt her. "We don't punish people…"

"Well then, maybe I should be a marine!" Chika screamed.

The shout was so strong and loud that it shook the air itself.

It was at that moment when Chika's eyes flooded so much with tears she could no longer see properly.

The last thing she saw before sadness overtook her were three faces: her mother's concerned expression, her brother's shocked appearance.

And then there was her daddy.

He just sat there looking at her.

As she descended into a stream of cries, Chika couldn't help but wonder if the face she had just seen was what the King of the Pirates looked like when he was disappointed.

* * *

><p><em><strong>J is for Jumbled<strong>_

Chika said nothing.

She hadn't said anything since she had stopped crying.

It was a new record.

She sat on the kitchen table where she had been carried, a fresh white cast covering her right arm. Her mouth was bit tightly shut.

She didn't feel like talking anyway.

Luckily, her doctor was doing all of that for her at the moment.

"You landed wrong," the man explained, snapping his gloves off and throwing them in the bin. "You put a lot of extra weight on your arm…and it just snapped. It's ironic really: the daughter of the pirate king, taken out by falling on her own arm."

Chika said nothing. When she didn't make a sound, the man turned back to her, offering the little girl a smirk.

"What? You don't find that funny?"

Chika was silent still.

Trafalgar Law sighed, shutting his doctor bag and dragged it off the side of the counter to place on the floor.

He hated kids.

He hadn't known he had hated kids so much before but right now, the fact was cemented.

Apparently, they didn't want sombre ironic humorous observations.

The girl had remained screaming through the whole procedure and now, she wasn't saying anything at all.

Honestly, what was the matter with children these days?

Slowly, Law turned around to look at the girl, her mind still seeming half the world away.

"You're lucky I was here doing research in Nico Robin's library," he commented. "Your reindeer friend is good but he can't fix bones as well as I can. A few twists with the Ope-Ope fruit and you'll be better in three days tops."

Chika said nothing.

Law returned her stare with one of his own.

They were annoying, the new generation.

So morbid, and not in the fun way.

Law approached Chika, gesturing across the room. A coffee mug appeared in his hands and he grabbed it without a word before settling down opposite his patient. It was strange.

Luffy used to go on about his kids all the time but whenever he mentioned his daughter, it was of a bright young lady with a big heart and kind eyes.

Currently, Chika's eyes looked glazed over, the kindness within them dissolved.

It was as if the girl had a darker side that neither of her parents had noticed.

Law wondered exactly what was going on in her head.

"So…a marine, huh?" Chika's gaze narrowed at Law into a glare.

Not that the warlord would ever admit it, but the kid definitely gave Law the chills. So different from her father and yet so similar.

"Where did you hear that?" Chika asked.

"Your dad," Law replied, sipping more of his coffee. Chika's head drooped. The atmosphere in the room became so thick, Law was sure he was drinking it more than he was his coffee. "How long have you wanted to be a marine?"

"A while," Chika spoke quietly.

"Any reason why?"

"Grandma Bellemere was in the marines and so was my great-grandpa and my Grandpa is head of the marine HQ."

"I know," Law muttered. "Believe me, I know. You've got some good connections: your father is king of the pirates, your brothers are princes, you just got fixed up by one of the seven warlords of the sea." Chika didn't look very impressed.

"Marines help people," she continued. "I want to help people."

"Pirates can help people," Law commented. Chika shook her head.

"Daddy said pirates aren't heroes. Pirates are usually the bad guys and I want to help punish the bad guys and keep people safe."

"Fair enough," Law murmured, once more sipping from his cup. "You seem to have this decided. It's odd to see a child so young with such certainty." Chika didn't feel very certain, so she looked at the wall. "So…you still mad at your brother?"

Chika didn't say anything. The question was too hard. Was she still mad at Haru? Was she ever mad at Haru? She clenched her fist. She didn't know. Her head was hurting.

"You know, you should tell people what's wrong. We need to talk about our feelings with each other. If we don't, they can mess us up in the head."

Chika turned from her wall and glanced at Law. His face was solemn, serious. He didn't seem to know how to talk to kids either, Chika noticed. All big words and direct comments, none of the usual fluffy statements here parents or other adults did. Law was blunt, no pretence and no lies.

Perhaps it was what made her feel at ease in his presence.

"…A few days ago, Mummy said that Daichi could go out to sea with his crew. After that, Haru ran away and then he came back. He was thinking about escaping and becoming a pirate but he didn't. He's been acting differently ever since, like he's changed…"

"And him acting differently has set you on edge?" Chika nodded. Law sighed. "So all of this happened because you and your brother couldn't get along?"

"It was his fault," Chika started but one look from Law ended her protests.

"Enough," he muttered. "He's your brother. You should be looking after him. That's what brothers do. Your father tell you about Ace?" Chika nodded once again, her head lowering into her knees. She knew all about the uncle she would never meet. "He had brothers back when he was little and though they fought a lot, they were still family and still loved each other, just like Haru still loves you."

Chika tried turning away from Law again, only this time she found her head spinning back into place as Law gestured to her.

"You're not the only one suffering here. You're all jumbled up inside and hurt…but that's just how Haru feels right now as well. He knows he's hurt you and he understands that pain and he wants to help. It's how good people are: they see pain and they want to fix it."

"How do you know that?" Chika wondered. Law's face tightened into a scowl.

"A man I used to know taught me that. He had so much pain in his heart and he chose to help me deal with mine. Good people want to help others and sometimes, that wanting is enough."

Chika sniffed, tears starting to fall from her face again. An audible sigh escaped into the air and a wisp of wind flowed over Chika's head as a light fluffy object plopped down on her skull.

"Stop it, no crying. God, I hate kids crying."

Chika glanced up, her hands clutching at the foreign object on her head. Law looked to her, his head notably vacant of his hat.

"Right," he muttered in a low voice, "Now, you go and see your family. They're waiting in the other room worried sick about you."

Chika nodded, wiping the tears from her eyes and springing off the table to walk to the door.

Law flicked his wrist and the door popped open.

Chika was able to take a single step forwards before a blur of orange hair leapt out from the living room.

"Chika!" the voice cried and before she could react, Chika found a small pair of arms wrapped around her, almost crushing her ribcage.

Haru sniffled, resting his head on Chika's shoulders as he began chanting an apology into the air.

Chika could feel his wet cheeks on her neck.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm-"

"It's okay," Chika muttered, returning the hug with her one good arm, her own arms watering. "I know you didn't mean…I'm sorry."

The sibling's embrace lasted for a whole minute before they recognised their audience. Daddy and Mummy were standing to one side, watching the two hug with a sense of relief in their eyes.

When Chika spotted her father, an urge to shy away from his gaze sprouted in her mind. Haru was hugging her too tightly to escape however, so she was unable to move as her daddy dropped down to one knee beside her. Not a single word passed between them. Instead, Luffy simply flung himself at the two children, crushing them in a huge hug. Chika's body immediately relaxed at her father's touch, almost as if she could sense his thoughts in the embrace.

He wasn't mad.

He didn't care she wanted to be a marine.

He was just happy she was safe.

The relief was overwhelming and Chika started sobbing again.

Haru and Luffy joined her, adding to the steady wet patch on the floor in the hall-way.

Nami shook her head at the crying but leaned forwards to join in anyway, snuggling in between her husband and her son.

From the kitchen, Law watched the tender moment with his usual amount of disinterest.

After a while, the four heads turned to him expectantly.

He shook his own with resilience.

"Forget it," he murmured. "I don't do hugs."

His comment was quickly thrown aside and not even Law's ope ope fruit could escape the sudden embrace as the blob of affection moved over to him, trapping him in the centre. Law winced, his cheeks turning a twinge of pink as Chika snuggled into him, murmuring a quick thank you to her 'Uncle Law'.

He sighed.

So this was why he didn't visit the Monkey House as much anymore.

It was definitely the kind of encounter that left you flustered and jumbled.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Until next time, I've been MikeTurner1 and I hope you've enjoyed this small one-shot.<em>**

**_Please review. Positive criticism is welcome._**


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